Brandon Aiyuk has been one of many hottest names on the NFL market all through this offseason, with rumors swirling throughout him. Aiyuk has one 12 months left on his deal, and might be a free agent after the 2024 season. It is clear that he might be getting a long-term deal quickly, whether or not that is from the San Francisco 49ers themselves, or one other staff.

49ers’ proprietor John Lynch not too long ago spoke about Aiyuk, and it looks like he does need Aiyuk to stay round, stating:

Nonetheless, there have been a ton of rumors relating to Aiyuk, and he hasn’t carried out something to quiet them down.

Brandon Aiyuk’s Background

Aiyuk went from a neighborhood school standout to an NFL star

Aiyuk has had a relatively attention-grabbing soccer profession. Popping out of highschool, Aiyuk wasn’t closely observed by scouts in any respect. The receiver would ultimately play at Sierra School, a neighborhood school in California. Whereas there, he put up insane numbers and earned sufficient recognition to switch to Arizona State to complete out his collegiate profession.

As a Solar Satan, Ayiuk had 98 catches for 1,666 yards with 11 touchdowns in two years. He additionally helped the Solar Devils to an 8-5 report in 2019, which was their greatest report since 2014. Aiyuk would ultimately be drafted with the twenty fifth general choose within the 2020 NFL Draft.

Since then, he is been electrical throughout his time with the 49ers. Via his first 4 years, Aiyuk has 269 receptions for 3,931 yards with 25 touchdowns to go together with that. He is emerged as an elite receiving menace in Kyle Shanahan’s offense, and with one 12 months left on his deal, he is in line for an enormous payday quickly.

With the groundwork laid out, let’s dive into the place Aiyuk could possibly be suiting up in 2024, if it is not with the 49ers.

Commerce Companion: Pittsburgh Steelers

There could also be mutual curiosity between Aiyuk and the Steelers

Fascinated about issues logistically, the Pittsburgh Steelers make sense as a vacation spot for Aiyuk. Their offense has sputtered for a few years now, however they’ve made some modifications this spring.

Kenny Pickett is off to Philadelphia, they usually’ve added each Russell Wilson and Justin Fields to the fold. The Steelers have now a minimum of carried out one thing in regards to the quarterback state of affairs. Moreover, Pittsburgh additionally traded Diontae Johnson, so that they have a necessity at vast receiver once more.

The tweet proven above is an enormous motive for the hypothesis between Aiyuk and the Steelers. It is not usually {that a} participant concerned in commerce rumors brazenly flirts with a type of groups, however Aiyuk has chosen to fan the flames right here. The Steelers could possibly be a strong match for Aiyuk, whereas being in want of some extra playmakers for his or her two new quarterbacks.

Commerce Companion: Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals have the property so as to add a former divisional foe

The Arizona Cardinals will lastly have a full season with a wholesome Kyler Murray once more. The final time that occurred, the staff was really extremely aggressive. Their solely downside? Murray has no weapons at his disposal heading into 2024.

Whereas most of those names can be recognizable to the common NFL fan, there is not actually any star-power on this offense for Murray to work with. The Cardinals do have the fourth general choose, they usually have turn out to be open to the thought of buying and selling down within the draft.

Even when Arizona holds onto its choose and takes Marvin Harrison Jr., the staff would nonetheless have a necessity at receiver due to how dangerous their corps on the place at present is.

Arizona has six picks within the first three rounds of this 12 months’s draft, so they have some property in the event that they do really feel like swinging a commerce for Aiyuk. Including a difference-maker like him would utterly remodel the offense and take a little bit of stress off Murray as effectively.

Commerce Companion: Los Angeles Chargers

By buying and selling for Aiyuk, the Chargers may recoup a few of their offseason losses.

The Los Angeles Chargers have had a quiet offseason, primarily as a result of some critical wage cap points. Because of that, most of their offensive weapons have gone their separate methods. Their high two receivers are at present Quentin Johnston and Joshua Palmer, which merely is not going to be sufficient to compete with the opposite expertise all through the AFC.

Los Angeles entered the offseason with wage cap woes, however as a result of they’ve misplaced as many gamers as they’ve, they lastly have some cash to work with. The Chargers at present have roughly $35 million in cap house, so that they have some flexibility at this level.

Thankfully, Aiyuk continues to be below contract for an additional 12 months. Whichever staff trades for him should be ready to offer him an extension. Los Angeles will see their cap house rise all the best way to $98 million subsequent offseason, so they may all the time commerce for Aiyuk now, and lengthen him then.

Commerce Companion: New England Patriots

If the Patriots draft a quarterback, Aiyuk could possibly be an enormous assist.

The New England Patriots, for the primary time in what looks like perpetually, discover themselves close to the highest of the draft board. With a roster missing expertise, there are a number of issues that will make sense with the No. 3 general choose. Nonetheless, with the quantity of QB expertise on this draft, they’re primarily assured to have among the finest QB prospects fall into their lap.

The Patriots discover themselves in a state of affairs just like the Chargers. They simply do not have a number of expertise on their roster, particularly on the offense. The road is suspect, the operating sport is common, they usually do not have many gifted cross catchers.

Merely put, if the Patriots do determine to take a quarterback with the third choose, they’ll should get him some assist. New England has a ton of cap house over the following couple of years, so now can be the time to lock up some potential long-term property, and Aiyuk can be a wonderful begin.

All statistics courtesy of Professional Soccer Reference and all contract data courtesy of Spotrac until said in any other case.

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