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How the 49ers Botched the Brandon Aiyuk Situation

In hindsight, the 49ers were foolish to expect Aiyuk to accept their initial offer back in April, no matter how generous they thought it was.

Grant Cohn

September 18, 2022; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (11) before the game against the Seattle Seahawks at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
September 18, 2022; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (11) before the game against the Seattle Seahawks at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
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If and when the 49ers eventually trade Brandon Aiyuk to the Steelers for a package that doesn't include a difference-maker or a first-round pick, it will go down as one of the worst moves in franchise history.

How did we get here?

Just a few weeks ago, the 49ers seemed confident that a deal would get done. Aiyuk seemed confident that a deal would get done. The 49ers always drag out contract negotiations into training camp. Then they up their offer, the player accepts and they sign an extension. That's what happened with George Kittle, Fred Warner, Deebo Samuel and Nick Bosa.

But the 49ers never upped their initial offer to Aiyuk. And so he requested a trade to a team of his choosing. And unless the 49ers want a giant distraction hanging over their team all season, they have to send him to Pittsburgh eventually.

In hindsight, the 49ers were foolish to expect Aiyuk to accept their initial offer back in April, no matter how generous they thought it was. Because they've created the pattern and expectation that they will up their offer a few months later. They've done that four years in a row. Aiyuk probably thought he would get the same treatment -- that's why he held in instead of holding out. But the second offer never came.

And that's because the 49ers don't seem to mind if they trade him. They don't seem to see him as an essential member of the team. That's why they drafted Ricky Pearsall in Round 1 this year -- to replace Aiyuk, who apparently is replaceable.

If that's how the 49ers felt about Aiyuk all along, they should have simply traded him before the draft. Waiting until now only has lowered his trade value. And at best, the 49ers will receive draft picks in 2025 that won't help them in 2024.

What a massive blunder.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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