There seem to now be two places All-Pro wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk will play in 2024.
Aiyuk will either stay with the San Francisco 49ers, or he’ll wind up getting dealt to the Pittsburgh Steelers. With the clock ticking rapidly on the preseason, it’s hard to imagine another team getting heavily enough involved to be considered a contender to acquire the 26-year-old receiver.
Trade talks between the 49ers and Steelers originally stalled before recently picking back up. Now reports indicate the talks have stalled again.
It’s not a huge surprise that trade talks aren’t going smoothly between San Francisco and Pittsburgh. Neither side is particularly eager to get swindled in the deal, and the 49ers’ need to acquire an impact player would predictably hold up a trade given what impact players the Steelers have.
The 49ers want to make sure they’re getting more-than-market value for Aiyuk, while the Steelers want to acquire him at the lowest possible price.
However, reporting from NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco paints a much different picture of the negotiations. Maiocco reported it isn’t a player holding up the deal, it’s that the Steelers aren’t willing to give the 49ers second and third-round draft picks.
That would be a wild turn of events if Pittsburgh balked because San Francisco wanted a couple of Day 2 draft picks. In August that sounds like a steal for a player of Aiyuk’s caliber on a team that desperately needs WR help.
From the 49ers’ perspective, that deal had to have been Step 1 toward something larger. Where they would’ve flipped those two picks (and perhaps other stuff) to another team for a star WR. They’re trying to win a Super Bowl. Two 2025 draft picks don’t help them do that.
At this point it’s hard to imagine a trade materializing if the Steelers aren’t willing to do a trade centered around two picks in next year’s draft. If they’re not going to do that or give up a good player, there’s no real reason for the 49ers to continue those talks.
