49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk Requests Trade; Washington Commanders Potential Landing Spot?

The Washington Commanders have long been tied to a potential move for the San Francisco 49ers star.

Dec 24, 2022; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (11) runs with the ball during the third quarter against the Washington Commanders at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports / Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

Things are heating up on the San Francisco 49ers vs. Brandon Aiyuk front and that means Washington Commanders fans are probably going to sit up and pay a little more attention to the team on the other side of the country a bit more.

While we've discussed at length the ongoing contract dispute between Aiyuk and the 49ers, there's been little smoke to think the Commanders could make a late offseason push to land the star receiver.

However, there were some sparks sent out on Tuesday afternoon when NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported that Aiyuk, "has officially requested a trade." There are no smoke signals from Washington yet, but if ever there was the kindling to produce some heat, this would be it.

READ MORE: Trade Idea Sends Aiyuk to Washington

Dec 24, 2022; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (11) runs with the ball during the third quarter against the Washington Commanders at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports / Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

"49ers All-Pro WR Brandon Aiyuk has officially requested a trade..."

- Mike Garafolo, NFL Network

"Source: #49ers All-Pro WR Brandon Aiyuk has officially requested a trade after an offseason of unsuccessful attempts to reach an extension," Garafolo's report said. "Despite a recent meeting, the Niners haven’t been willing to engage in negotiations since May so Aiyuk has respectfully asked out."

Of course, as exciting as trade requests can be when your team is rumored to possibly be on the receiving end of a high-caliber player, the excitement is doubled because of the persistent and proven relationship between Aiyuk and Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels.

The two played together at Arizona State when Daniels was a freshman on the Sun Devils football team and Aiyuk was a senior. Together the duo connected 65 times for 1,192 yards and eight touchdowns, and after the year the talented receiver was the 25th overall pick by the 49ers in the 2020 NFL Draft.

This season Aiyuk is scheduled to play on his fifth year option worth around $14 million but has expressed many times and through several outlets - including social media - that he wants a new deal before taking another snap for San Francisco.

But nobody should be expecting any big changes in the coming hours or days, as ESPN reporter Nick Wagoner pointed out in a series of social media postings shortly following the reports.

#49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk has requested a trade, per sources (as @MikeGarafolo said). As you'd expect, I'm told the Niners' position on this hasn't changed. They want to and plan to keep Aiyuk.

They've also had players -- Deebo Samuel, Robbie Gould -- request trades in the past…

— Nick Wagoner (@nwagoner) July 16, 2024

Dates the #49ers agreed to contracts for other big stars entering the last year of their deals:

TE George Kittle -- Aug. 13, 2020
LB Fred Warner -- July 21, 2021
WR Deebo Samuel -- July 31, 2022
DE Nick Bosa -- Sept. 6, 2023

— Nick Wagoner (@nwagoner) July 16, 2024

So the news is exciting if you're a Commanders fan, or Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots, and even a New York Jets fan. There's probably a dark horse team or two that we're missing on that list as well.

But the bottom line is Aiyuk isn't happy, the 49ers don't appear to be budging, and the Commanders have already had trade talks for this player specifically, so the reality that something 'could' happen is there.

Given the relationship between Aiyuk and Daniels, and between Washington and San Francisco general managers Adam Peters and John Lynch respectively, if a trade happens there's good reason to think there's a chance it happens here.

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READ MORE: How Would Aiyuk and McLaurin Mesh?

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