Young also shared his thoughts about Aiyuk’s agent and Trent Williams
Steve Young joined the “Tolbert & Copes” show on KNBR and didn’t pull any punches, discussing the San Francisco 49ers and their contract situations with left tackle Trent Williams and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk on Monday.
Young believes the 49ers and Aiyuk can mend their relationship, but it is “stretched and strained.” It certainly feels like Aiyuk’s situation has gone on for too long, and Young sounds like he is looking forward to a resolution, whatever that may be:
“Like, bro, if you want to tear up the contract and do something big, then you might want to go the fifth year and go prove it out … Or, if you’re going to ask to be traded, then when [the 49ers] make a trade that works for them, you gotta say you’re up for it.”
Young took Aiyuk’s agent to task as well.
“The agent has gotta be able to figure out a way to bring that player to see the values other than the dollars — to see the context that there’s a lot of great players out there that are playing with brutal teams that have no chance to see the full measure of who they can be as a player, and that’s not you…”
Young continued as he commented on Trent Williams’s holdout and didn’t mince words while discussing the team’s Super Bowl window narrowing, but it is not closed.
“So if the window’s [as] open as it’s going to be for some time right now, everybody needs to be on board. And that’s why Trent … I think he set the market [with his original contract]. And I think [49ers CEO] Jed [York] and everybody’s willing to do that because it’s the best tackle in the league.”
“And now you’re going to come back and say, ‘No, I want to set it again because there’s another $8 million collectively that I can go get, and I’m on my last contract and I’m getting old. It’s like, bro. Do you not see what we’re trying to get done here?”
Jeremy Fowler reported Williams is prepared to take his holdout into the season on Monday. Tuesday, the 49ers have to complete their 53-man roster cut down, and Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch will speak to the media.
The saga continues with Williams and Aiyuk.