Washington Commanders: Jay Gruden sees why Brandon Aiyuk would be fit
July 1, 2026, 4:06 a.m. ET
Jay Gruden should go into NFL TV commentary.
Gruden, the former Washington Redskins head coach (2014-2019), was on Team 980 on Tuesday with host Kevin Sheehan on the “Kevin Sheehan Show.”
Gruden doesn’t hold back; he has a sense of humor, and he has nothing to lose when speaking his mind. Of course, the top conversation surrounding the Commanders right now centers around San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. Does Gruden think Washington should pursue Aiyuk when the 49ers move on from him?
Here are some good quotes from Gruden’s Tuesday conversation with Sheehan.
“He (Brandon Aiyuk) needs to quiet down; he needs to get himself reinstated. He needs to do things the right way. Report to the 49ers and hopefully they release him, and he becomes available. I mean, that is the only option that he has.””He’s (Aiyuk) got to clean up his act or he won’t be playing football anywhere.””I think they (Commanders) would rather him be quiet because now the 49ers obviously have someone the Commanders want in a bad way…Obviously it’s a perfect match with Jayden and Brandon, and Adam Peters drafted him when he was in San Francisco. This is the ideal place for him to play, if he can get through the hoops.””If I am happy with the group we have at receiver, then I am not going to mess with Brandon Aiyuk. But if we are not getting any separation other than Terry McLaurin, we need somebody else out there. Then I’m going to try to pursue this guy because he is a second-team Pro Bowl type player.””He’s (Aiyuk) a really good athlete. He’s big, he’s fast, and he’s what we need opposite Terry. But all that being said, I don’t think anybody knows him as good as Jayden (Daniels) or Adam (Peters). So obviously, if they take a chance on him, they feel they can control him a little bit.””Moving forward, if there’s a quarterback in the NFL that can control him, his personality and all that stuff, it would probably be Jayden. But if he’s (Aiyuk) not getting the ball, is he going to resort to these old habits and go on videos saying, ‘Hey, this team doesn’t know what they are doing. This David Blough guy is a moron.’ You don’t want that on your team either.””You’ve got to have versatile receivers and different types of receivers on your roster. That’s why I am concerned about Washington. They have too many slot guys with Lane, McCaffrey, and the new guy Williams they just drafted. They need another outside physical presence, in my opinion.”Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.
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