John Lynch, everyone. Are the 49ers speaking through the media or what are they trying to accomplish here?
Not much has changed in the Aiyuk deal since August 12. Well, according to Adam Schefter. Maybe.
The San Francisco 49ers have locked up Brandon Aiyuk into a 4-year, $120 million deal, which puts an end to 2024’s biggest offseason storyline. Aiyuk will be sticking around for the foreseeable future. The 49ers were reported to have sent a number of offers to Aiyuk.
Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, that contract from August 12 is the contract Aiyuk signed. It’s important to note, Aiyuk’s agent Ryan Williams re-posted it saying that Schefter’s report was “factually inaccurate.” This was due to it initially having “August 10” in it. Schefter later updated the post to say “August 12”. So, that may have been the inaccuracy.
There were reports on August 17 that the deal was essentially done, but there were some discussions over that final year. If this is any indication, it looks like there wasn’t much to discuss since the offer Aiyuk took was the one initially given. We’ll probably never be clear on just how much negotiating went on for a bit.
What is clear is the 49ers front office efficiency. They were able to budge a bit, but didn’t cave to Aiyuk’s demands at the last minute when the offer went unsigned. Instead, they said, “Here you go,” and the staredown commenced.
We don’t know what went through Aiyuk’s mind in the time between the 49ers submitting their final offer to now, nor what (if any) further phone calls were made. We also don’t know what changed between 8/12 and now yet. There was a staredown. Whoever actually “won” given that contract is up to you.
Initial reports indicate that 49ers owner Jed York will be writing a big check for his wide receiver in 2024. $47 million of Aiyuk’s contract will be paid out between now and April 1, 2025. We don’t know the specifics, so that’s something to keep an eye on.
So now, what should we talk about?