The San Francisco 49ers want to trade wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. Brandon Aiyuk wants the 49ers to trade him. But, according to a new report, no one can get a hold of him.
It’s just the latest twist in the strange saga involving the controversial 49ers star. Since Brandon Aiyuk signed a four-year, $120 million extension with the franchise ahead of the 2024 season, he and the team have been engaged in a bizarre battle.
Despite tearing his MCL, ACL, and meniscus in his right knee and being unable to play, Aiyuk was slated to earn around $27 million last season.
49ers general manager John Lynch has even gone so far as to playfully plead with other teams to trade for Ayiuk during his post-draft press conference. “We’re available. Give us a call,” he said.
Now, according to Adam Schefter, it sounds like the team would also like Brandon Aiyuk to give them, or anyone, a call.
“Well, we know he’s not going to be back in San Francisco,” Schefter said on The Pat McAfee Show. “We know that the team is ready to move on from him. And they’ve advertised, including this weekend, at every turn, that they would trade him for whatever they could get back for him.”
Teams reportedly can’t reach Brandon Aiyuk to discuss a trade
Schefter added that “it’s a situation where he hasn’t been in clear, constant communication with the Niners. They’ve had a hard time getting a hold of him.”
The last time anyone in the media knew of Aiyuk being anywhere near a San Francisco 49ers facility was in December, when he drew the attention of Santa Clara police after posting a video of himself traveling well over the speed limit while driving by Levi’s Stadium.
It’s not just the 49ers who haven’t been able to reach Aiyuk, according to Adam Schefter. Other teams have also apparently tried to reach out to the wide receiver but have come up empty.
“Other teams, I think, have attempted to reach out,” Schefter added. “They’ve had a hard time getting a hold of him. So, it’s a situation where the 49ers feel like, yeah, Brandon Aiyuk, I’m sure, would love to be released so he can go rejoin his college teammate Jayden Daniels in Washington. That’s a prevailing thought out there.
“But the Niners are like, ‘You know what? We don’t really care. We’ve got some time between now and camp opening, and we’re not just going to give him away unless we feel like we can get something back for him.'”