The most underwhelming diva wide receiver hold in is over. Brandon Aiyuk and the San Fransisco 49ers finally agreed on a 4-year deal worth up to $120M, for an annual average of $30M per year.
The talented receiver was holding in to avoid playing on his 5th year option and had no shortage of suitors. New England, who may be poor on talent but are rich on salary cap space made the largest offer and met San Fransisco’s trade requirements, but Aiyuk never had any interest in playing for them. Washington, Cleveland and Pittsburgh also made offers with the latter being the assumed front runner if a trade was ever going to happen.
Aiyuk went as far as to tweet Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin, among other social media subtleties linking him with Pittsburgh.
In the end it was the 49ers and it’s hard to believe it wasn’t always the 49ers. They’re the best team in the NFC year in and year out, the franchise QB is set in stone, and they have one of the best Head Coaches in Kyle Shanahan. Oh yeah, and they paid him $30M a year.
Brandon Aiyuk did an excellent job playing dirty to negotiate his contract up. His new deal puts him on par with Wide Receivers like Tyreek Hill and Amon-Ra St. Brown – who I think many would agree are a step above SF’s WR1.
Next up for a diva WR hold out/in is Ja’Marr Chase. Even though he has two years remaining on his deal, Chase has stopped practicing to force the issue on a new contract. Let us hope it gets worked out in time for him to suit up in week one. Bengals QB Joe Burrow will be playing as if he has something to prove and he’ll need his top guy out there to do it.
Leave a Reply