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Is Brandon Aiyuk One Elite Season Away from a Massive Pay Day?

The price for elite wide receivers seems to rise monthly. By the time Aiyuk is eligible for an extension, the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL could earn anywhere from $35 million per season to $40 million per season.

Grant Cohn

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A year ago, the 49ers probably didn't think they would have to give Deebo Samuel $30 million per season with $70 million guaranteed. But then, he had one All Pro season, and the wide receiver market exploded, and now $70 million guaranteed is the cost of doing business with a top-level wide receiver.

Will Brandon Aiyuk command an even bigger contract extension next season when he's eligible for one?

Remember, no one thought Deebo Samuel would put himself in the MVP conversation at this time last year, but he did. He completely changed the perception of himself. Twelve months ago, he was an injury-prone player without a true position. Now, he's the league's best wide back, someone every team wants their own version of, all because he had one elite season.

Couldn't Aiyuk do something similar?

He clearly has a terrific connection with the 49ers next starting quarterback, Trey Lance. What if Aiyuk becomes Lance's No. 1 target? Or what if Samuel gets injured next season and Aiyuk becomes the focal point of the offense and gains 1,400 yards from scrimmage? This is not far fetched.

The price for elite wide receivers seems to rise monthly. By the time Aiyuk is eligible for an extension, the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL could earn anywhere from $35 million per season to $40 million per season.

Are the 49ers prepared to pay Aiyuk all that money if he has a monster breakout season in 2022 the way Samuel did in 2021? Can the 49ers afford to pay both of them more than $30 million per season? Or will the 49ers have to trade Aiyuk if he plays too well?

I guess we'll find out.

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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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