The Brandon Aiyuk Saga might come to an end soon.
Aiyuk just posted a video of himself on social media entering the 49ers facility first thing this morning. In the video, he appears to be in an extremely good mood as he’s singing and dancing in the driver’s seat. This comes just a couple days after Aiyuk and his agent had a face-to-face meeting with the 49ers at Aiyuk’s request, a meeting which reportedly went well.
I’m guessing Aiyuk asked the 49ers to meet his asking price and extend his contract now or trade him as soon as possible. And I’m guessing the 49ers said they’d see what they could do. And now he’s back in Levi’s Stadium.
There are a few ways to interpret Aiyuk’s latest social media post.
1. The 49ers finally caved and intend to give Aiyuk every penny that he asked for. It’s clear he wants more than $30 million per season, but it’s unclear how much guaranteed money he wants. Probably no less than $50 million guaranteed, considering the Eagles just gave A.J. Brown $51 million guaranteed and both he and Aiyuk were second-team All Pros last season. Maybe the 49ers decided Aiyuk is worth all that money to them.
2. The 49ers finally found a trade offer for Aiyuk that they like and they intend to move him soon. Maybe that’s why Aiyuk was wearing a Pittsburgh Pirates hat in the video. Maybe he’s getting traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
3. The video means absolutely nothing and Aiyuk is going to the facility to lift weights.
I think the most likely outcome is the first one — the 49ers are on the verge of caving. They caved last year with Nick Bosa, and they can’t afford Aiyuk to miss any time if they’re serious about winning the Super Bowl this upcoming season.
Don’t be surprised if Aiyuk gets his extension in the next week or two.
