News broke late on Thursday that the San Francisco 49ers and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk agreed on a four-year contract with $120 million with reports of $76 million of that guaranteed. This means the Pittsburgh Steelers now have to scramble to find help at wide receiver and it really feels like Aiyuk never had any intention of coming to Pittsburgh.
The Aiyuk contract is big but hardly unmanageable for the Niners or Steelers. While it is on par with some of the top contracts, it definitely leaves him in that next tier in terms of salary. In other words, this is a deal he could have gotten in Pittsburgh, had he really wanted to go there.
Finally!! 🚨 🚨 🚨
The #49ers are not trading star WR Brandon Aiyuk — he’s staying in SF with a massive extension, per me and @MikeGarafolo.
Aiyuk is getting a front-loaded 4-year deal worth $120M — done by @RyanWilliamsA1 of @AthletesFirst. And yes, Aiyuk will now practice. pic.twitter.com/2LreDyUDoH
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 29, 2024
Instead it feels like Aiyuk leveraged a potential exit to the Steelers as a way to get a bigger contract from San Francisco than they initially wanted to pay. Either way, the Steelers are now staring down a serious problem at wide receiver with just days to the first regular-season game.
