The San Francisco 49ers have a disgruntled Brandon Aiyuk on their hands, and with his stock tanking every day as his behavior makes him even more impossible to offload, the Niners may be stuck with a declining asset no one is in a hurry to take off Kyle Shanahan's hands in the next few weeks.
Aiyuk is trying to force his way to the Washington Commanders, who are quarterbacked by his former Arizona State teammate in Jayden Daniels. That plan may end up coming to fruition, but if he is unable to get what he wants, no team in the NFL might be willing to sign themselves up for all of the problems that Aiyuk brings with him.
An NFL executive told insider Jason La Canfora, "We don’t need that here," when asked about possibly bringing Aiyuk to his team. La Canfora painted a very bleak picture of what the market for Aiyuk looks like at this point, noting that "it will not be a long list of suitors at this point" when surveying the landscape.
Jason La Canfora claims market for 49ers' Brandon Aiyuk is very small
It's been almost two years since Aiyuk has been the elite wide receiver San Francisco paid for, as he has suffered some destabilizing injuries and seemed to be interested in just about anything except acutally suiting up for the 49ers. This is looking to be one of the worst contract extensions in NFL history.
Aiyuk's master plan seems to be forcing Washington, which seems comfortable rolling with Terry McLaurin and rookie Antonio Williams, to sign him in free agency before he establishes himself as their top passing game target. Even if the Commanders were all-in on Aiyuk, publicly going off the rails like this is not going to engender any goodwill.
Aiyuk is certainly talented enough to be part of a contending team, but he has become much more trouble than he is worth in San Francisco. If he keeps this up, how could any team, even his preferred estimation, feel comfortable in making him a load-bearing part of their offensive infrastructure?
Aiyuk has gone beyond diva wide receiver behavior, as his attempt to get away from the 49ers has gone so sideways that teams across the league with wide receiver help are deciding to instead pass up the chance to bring him to town.
This situation may drag on until he starts showing some major contrition and flexibility.
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