Brandon Aiyuk requests trade, ball is now in 49ers court to extend him

Brandon Aiyuk has requested a trade from the 49ers, but the team has managed to deal with this before. Can they convince Aiyuk to sign on like they did Deebo Samuel?

Relations between wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and the San Francisco 49ers soured more today, with reports coming in that Aiyuk has requested a trade from the organization after contract talks had not been productive between the two.

Read More: Insider says 49ers are likely to extend Brandon Aiyuk, not trade him


This would bring people some deja vu, as a similar standoff between the 49ers and wide receiver Deebo Samuel escalated in this fashion also.

The Niners were able to bridge that divide at least, but now the pressure is on for the team to do it again.

The 49ers aren't in too tough a situation yet. Aiyuk is under contract still, and the Niners have the franchise tag handy if need be, so they won't be forced into a trade they don't like. That doesn't change the standoff of course, but it also means that teams won't be able to sucker the Niners to trade for pennies on the dollar either.

Of course, a trade is no guarantee of a move, as the aforementioned Deebo situation. But, notably, it would be in the 49ers' interest to trade him this year from a draft perspective. The 2024 class is exceptionally deep at receiver, which would understandably become a new need for the team if Aiyuk were to move on.

The NFL Draft is under two weeks away, but we should have a clearer idea by then what the 49ers plan to do.

For now, the 49ers need not panic. We've seen this play out before.