Brandon Aiyuk requested a trade, and the 49ers worked out deals with multiple teams. In the end, Aiyuk got what he wanted, and the 49ers got their top receiver back on the field.
After months of acrimonious negotiations that included a hold in by Aiyuk, the sides finally agreed to a four-year, $120 million deal that includes $46 million fully guaranteed.
“Ultimately, I wanted to be in this position right here, right now, standing here, talking to you all,” Aiyuk said in his first comments since signing his deal, via David Bonilla of 49erswebzone.com. “But like I said, every day was different in this negotiation. Every day was different, and just following my heart and myself each day, and that led me here today.”
The stalemate came to a head last Wednesday when the 49ers publicly announced Aiyuk was medically cleared to practice, and Aiyuk remained out of practice. General Manager John Lynch declared that “at some point, you’ve got to play.”
A day later, the sides had a deal.
“I’m not going to lie,” Aiyuk said. “I made it a little bit more difficult than I needed to at the end. But, yeah, it was like that for me — I’m not going to say the whole entire time—but for about the past month, I think we were pretty good.”
Aiyuk said being around his teammates but not practicing with them was difficult, a business decision known as a hold in so as not to risk injury while awaiting a contract extension.
“It was tough,” Aiyuk said. “That was probably the hardest part about the whole thing, just because, at that point, you’ve got the rest of the team involved. I’m here every single day. They’re suiting up, getting ready to go out to practice, and I’m not. So that was the hard part.
“But on that same tone, I was able to be in meetings, and be able to go through all the stuff that they got to go through, and kind of still be involved. Get used to being here in the morning, being here all day, having the treatment, having everything I need. So it was a little awkward, but I think it worked out how it needed to.”
Aiyuk doesn’t have much time to get ready for the season with the 49ers opening Monday night against the Jets.