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The 49ers Want to Trade Brandon Aiyuk to the Browns or the Patriots

The Brandon Aiyuk saga keeps getting weirder.

Grant Cohn

Sep 26, 2021; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (11) reacts after catching a touchdown during the third quarter against the Green Bay Packers at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 26, 2021; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (11) reacts after catching a touchdown during the third quarter against the Green Bay Packers at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports / Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
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The Brandon Aiyuk saga keeps getting weirder.

First, he hugged the head coach and we thought a contract extension was imminent. Then it was reported that the 49ers had a trade in place with the Steelers -- Aiyuk's preferred destination. Then it was reported that the Steelers haven't offered enough and instead the 49ers have deals in place with the Browns and the Patriots for Aiyuk and they're waiting on him to decide if he wants to sign an extension with either team. Currently, the answer is no.

The Browns reportedly would send the 49ers Amari Cooper and a draft pick or picks while the Patriots would send the 49ers Kendrick Bourne and a draft pick or picks. It's unclear what the Steelers have offered the 49ers, although it's been speculated that the offer is right guard James Daniels and a pick or picks.

The 49ers clearly want a wide receiver in exchange for Aiyuk and the Steelers don't have one the 49ers would want. Meanwhile, Amari Cooper might be an upgrade over Aiyuk, and Bourne at least knows the 49ers system because he used to play here.

But Aiyuk doesn't want to play for those teams -- he has made that clear. The 49ers and Patriots reportedly had a deal in place before the draft that would send Aiyuk to New England in exchange for the 34th pick this year, but the Patriots backed out because Aiyuk refused to sign an extension with them. What could possibly have changed since then?

It seems like one of two things is happening right now. Either the 49ers are trying to get Aiyuk to change his mind and agree to sign extension with Cleveland or New England, which he almost certainly won't do. Or they're trying to get the Steelers to up their offer. And if all it takes to get Aiyuk is Kendrick Bourne, a 29-year-old receiver coming off a torn ACL who never has had a 1,000-yard season in his career, plus a pick, then I'm guessing the Steelers can match that.

Stay tuned.

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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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