Nick Bosa on Brandon Aiyuk: "Very Tough Player to Replace"

It's safe to say that Nick Bosa probably isn't a fan of the 49ers potentially trading Brandon Aiyuk.

Feb 5, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa (97) during Super Bowl LVIII Opening Night at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Brandon Aiyuk being traded away by the San Francisco 49ers has intensified in the last couple of days.

No significant progress has been made on a contract extension. Both Aiyuk and the 49ers clearly have dug into their stances with neither side looking to cave. So, a trade is what seems to be the recourse here with an agreement bleak.

Trading Aiyuk is not a wise move at all for the 49ers, especially at this point of the year. What the 49ers could get in return for Aiyuk will most likely not be able to fill in for him or shrink the hole left by him. Even Nick Bosa knows that replacing him will be difficult.

"I think it'd be huge," said Bosa if Aiyuk was traded. "I trust John and Kyle, but he's a very tough player to replace."

Aiyuk is especially a tough player to replace when Week 1 against the New York Jets is in about a month. If a trade was going to take place, then the 49ers should've done so before the NFL draft. That way they could've at least found their immediate replacement and got him embedded.

Now, at this point, they would be foolish to want to trade him. I don't see how they could get any player that will even shrink the hole left by him in half. All the 49ers will do is hurt their chances at winning the Super Bowl in 2024. By no means will the offense regress tremendously.

They'll surely still be a handful for most defenses, but Aiyuk's loss will lower how threatening the offense is. Not to mention they are removing Purdy's best receiving option. Just let him play on the final year of his deal and franchise tag him after. Why make the team worse by trading him?

Besides, this is really all the 49ers' own doing. They always choose to draw out these negotiations because of how they play hardball. Bosa knows it all too well.

"I'm not gonna comment too much on it, but they are tough. That's for sure." Bosa said.

Trading Aiyuk now has more risk than reward. It can potentially have rattling ramifications on the players. Seeing one of their best players get shipped out is sure to jolt them at least a bit and make the season start off weird.

That is what is easy to overlook. The emotional reaction to seeing Aiyuk traded. Yes, they're all professionals, but how can the players not feel some type of way of seeing Aiyuk be sent out in a year where they are trying to win it all?

We'll see soon what the 49ers and Aiyuk end up deciding.