REPORT: The Steelers Expect to Trade for 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk

I buy this report.

Sep 10, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (11) is / Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

It seems increasingly unlikely that Brandon Aiyuk will play for the 49ers next season.

First he unfollowed the 49ers on social media. And now AllSteelers publisher Noah Strackbein reports that the Pittsburgh Steelers essentially expect to trade for Aiyuk soon.

"According to a team source, the Steelers and 49ers trade talks are real," writes Strackbein. "While nothing is imminent, they 'would be surprised if it didn't happen.' But it all comes down to compensation...What should the expectation be? Just guessing, it feels like a second-round pick and maybe a late-round pick could get the deal done...No one knows when a deal will get done, but the two sides are in contact. It could come down to the wire in the NFL Draft, or it can go afterward."

I buy this report. If the 49ers and Aiyuk can't come to an agreement on a contract extension -- and it seems like they can't -- I don't think they'll make him play out the fifth-year option in his contract. It's not how they do business. They're a player-friendly organization. They just released Arik Armstead a month ago because he asked them to.

I'm guessing the 49ers don't want people to know that they're probably going to trade Aiyuk, because they don't want people to know they're probably going to draft a wide receiver in Round 1. Once they make that pick, I expect they'll trade Aiyuk to Pittsburgh within the next few hours.

In 2018, the 49ers didn't want people to know they were going to draft a right tackle in Round 1. So they held onto Trent Brown, surprised everyone by drafting Mike McGlinchey with the 9th pick, and then traded Brown the next day.

I expect they'll do something similar with Aiyuk.