As the cliché goes, nice guys finish last. 49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk, in officially requesting a trade this week, has figured that out.
There’s another modified saying that has been particularly relevant to the 49ers in recent years.
The squeaky wheel gets the green.
That’s how receiver Deebo Samuel cashed in two years ago. From the outset of the offseason, he agitated. He wanted to be traded. He created the impression he was done with the 49ers.
And it worked.
Last year, defensive end Nick Bosa stayed away until he got paid. And it worked.
Others have gotten paid. Running back Christian McCaffrey, whose squeaking was extremely discreet and generally minimal but nevertheless effective, got paid. Tackle Trent Williams has gotten paid. Most key players from the team that has made it to four conference championships and two Super Bowls have been rewarded.
Those they didn’t want to pay got a fresh start, whether it was defensive tackle DeForest Buckner via trade or defensive lineman Arik Armstead, who was given an ultimatum to take a pay cut or take a hike and choose a fresh start.
Aiyuk falls in a rare category for the Kyle Shanahan/John Lynch 49ers. The 2023 second-team All-Pro clearly deserves more than the $14.1 million he’s due to earn in the fifth year of his rookie deal. They won’t give him what he wants, however. And they won’t trade him to a team that will.
Earlier this year, it seemed as if they were hoping to keep the band together for one more season before figuring out how to reconfigure the roster after the next run at an elusive sixth Super Bowl win.
If that happens, it’ll come against the wishes of Aiyuk, who’s trying to parlay a great performance last year into the contract he believes he deserves.
He was second in the league last year with 12.8 yards per target, racking up 1,342 receiving yards with only 105 passes thrown his way. (Bills receiver Khalil Shakir led the NFL with 13.6, but he had only 611 total receiving yards.)
From Aiyuk’s perspective, what would he do if he got, for example, the 181 targets that went to Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb? What would Aiyuk do with even 150?
The 49ers could find out, perhaps by trading Samuel. Or by trading Aiyuk.
Regardless, Aiyuk decided this week to start squeaking. We’ll see if it works.