If Brandon Aiyuk really wants to continue his career as professional wide receiver in the NFL, with or without the 49ers, he hasn’t done a good job showing it.
Just three days after San Francisco general manager John Lynch suggested other teams around the league “give us a call” to inquire about trading for Aiyuk, interested teams have found they’re having just as hard a time getting in touch with the receiver as the Niners did this past season, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Monday.
“It’s a situation where he hasn’t been in clear, constant communication with the Niners,” Schefter said on the “Pat McAfee Show” on Monday. “They’ve had a hard time getting ahold of him. Other teams have, I think, attempted to reach out; they’ve had a hard time getting ahold of him.”
This is a new experience for a team like the Commanders, the team that is reportedly most interested in acquiring the 28-year-old receiver, but it’s nothing new for San Francisco. As Matt Barrows and Nicki Jhabvala of the Athletic noted in an article published Wednesday, Aiyuk stopped answering calls from the team around October, when Shanahan said the receiver was “weeks away” from a return.
It’s for that exact reason that Washington does not want to heed Lynch’s advice in calling SF for a trade, setting up what NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport framed as a “standoff” on ESPN on Wednesday. (The Athletic also noted that in their story.) The volatility that Aiyuk has shown in the past year or so does not exactly inspire the confidence required to match any sort of asking price the Niners might set for him, let alone taking on his contract as it currently is. It would also stand to reason that any other team that suddenly develops a modicum of interest in Aiyuk would feel the same way.
This doesn’t leave the Niners with many options other than the pettiest: holding onto Aiyuk until right before they have to pay him before the start of the season, only releasing him at that point. One thing that could change this outcome is if the receiver shows any indication that he’s willing to change for his new team and work toward the second-team All-Pro level he showcased in 2023. For now, however, he hasn’t shown any desire to do that.