CeeDee Lamb deal gives 49ers a startling reality check with Brandon Aiyuk

The 49ers day just got a lot worse. Or at the very least, it just got more expensive.

Early on Monday, news broke that the Cowboys had reached an agreement on a contract extension with star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the extension is a four-year deal worth up to $136 million. It also, notably enough, makes him the second highest-paid non-QB in NFL history.

That's a ton of money. Lamb's new deal comes in a shade under Justin Jefferson's mega-extension from this summer, which feels appropriately fair based on their careers so far. The contract is just the latest example of how much leverage and power star wide receivers currently have in today's market, which is probably exactly why there's some 49ers front office employee slamming his desk right now.

All eyes are on the 49ers now that CeeDee Lamb got paid

Maybe saying "all eyes" is a little dramatic, but the point remains. Aiyuk's one of the few star wide receivers who hasn't gotten the contract extension he so publicly lobbied for this summer, and after a few busy weeks of Insider Reports and reddit rumors, it's been a quiet last week for both Aiyuk and the team. He did travel with them to Las Vegas for their final preseason game, which people interpreted to be a potential sign of progress. He ended up leaving Vegas without millions of new dollars though which, Brandon, join the club.

And it's not like the 49ers front office isn't acutely aware of what it'll take to sign Aiyuk, but developments like this never help. This is the type of move that messes with markets, and it's not uncommon for terms to get torn up after a deal like this happens. That's the danger of trying to play chicken with big contracts – another NFL team is *always* happy to be an agent of chaos and mess things up. We'll see if this actually gets Aiyuk into the $30+ million per season that he reportedly so badly wants, but it sure doesn't seem like it'll hurt his chances.