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The Patriots Drop Out of the Running for 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk

Slick move.

Grant Cohn

Oct 25, 2020; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (11) makes a catch on a pass from quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (not seen) during the second half against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 25, 2020; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (11) makes a catch on a pass from quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (not seen) during the second half against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports / Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports
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The Patriots just pulled a move I pulled in seventh grade.

That's when I heard my girlfriend was going to dump me during lunch, so I dumped her first. Big victory for yours truly.

The Patriots just did something similar with Brandon Aiyuk. They've been pursuing him all offseason. They tried to trade him before the draft, had a deal in place with the 49ers that would send them the 34th pick, and Aiyuk nixed the deal. Refused to sign an extension with New England for obvious reasons. They're the worst team in football.

So this week, the Patriots tried again. And failed again. Because they still stink and Aiyuk hasn't changed his mind. So now they're saying they don't want Aiyuk anymore.

Slick move.

"After inquiring about Brandon Aiyuk’s availability, the Patriots have decided not to explore any further trade possibilities with the 49ers regarding their standout wide receiver," tweeted ESPN's Adam Schefter. "Patriots are excited about their young receivers and want to focus on them."

TRANSLATION: The Patriots are not excited about their young receivers. They wanted Aiyuk but he didn't want them.

Just like I wanted my seventh-grade girlfriend but she didn't want me. So I dumped her first so I could focus on my young wide receivers, whoever they were. Although privately, I cried myself to sleep for a week.

I expect Aiyuk eventually will end up with the Steelers, just as my seventh-grade girlfriend eventually ended up with someone much cooler than I was. It's inevitable.

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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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