We may finally be nearing the end of the Brandon Aiyuk trade saga.
For the last few weeks, Aiyuk's future with the team has been as up in the air as anyone's on the roster. The 49ers are going through a bit of a rebuild – if you can really call it that? – which led to speculation that Aiyuk could be next in line to get traded somewhere else.
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Pittsburgh and New England always felt like the two most common sense destinations, and there was even speculation that he could follow former teammate Deebo Samuel to Washington. But according to Adam Schefter, it looks like Aiyuk isn't headed anywhere. On Sunday morning, Schefter reported that the team wasn't planning on trading him before his $22 million roster bonus hits this Tuesday, which essentially means he's staying in San Francisco for the 2025 season.
It sure sounds like Brandon Aiyuk's staying with the 49ers next season
"The San Francisco 49ers are not expected to trade wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk by Tuesday, when he is due a $22.85 million bonus, barring a late deal materializing, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Sunday. Aiyuk, who signed a four-year, $120 million extension with the 49ers last year, is due the $22.85 million bonus if he is on the team's roster Tuesday. Once the 49ers pay that bonus it is expected that Aiyuk would spend the 2025 season in San Francisco, the sources told Schefter."
And maybe this is just a last minute effort by the 49ers to drum up some sort of trade interest for Aiyuk, but even that kinda feels like a stretch at this point. While he figures to miss some time at the start of the year while working to get back from the ACL injury he suffered last season, Aiyuk's still only 27 years old and, in his last full season, had 75 catches for over 1,300 yards and seven touchdowns. Even with the Niners going through a little bit of an organizational reset, Aiyuk figures to be a central piece on the roster through the length of his contract extension, which runs through the 2028 season.