The Brandon Aiyuk situation has been all over the place of late. So where is it going?
It’s gone from being very quiet to being very loud, to being sort of quiet again. It’s created a wide range of conflicting reports regarding which teams are in and which teams are out, and which teams are out and which teams are in.
We have no idea what’s going to ultimately happen. As of right now, I think (I don’t know, but I think) there are two likely outcomes: (1) Aiyuk gets traded to the Steelers; or (2) Aiyuk signs a long-term deal with the 49ers.
He’d possibly already be a member of the Steelers, if they were offering the 49ers more in trade and Aiyuk more in pay. As we hear it, the Steelers are lower than others, on both metrics.
But as others slip away, the Steelers could be the last team standing. Unless, of course, the 49ers realize, “Hey, if someone else will pay him more than we will and give us stuff in return, maybe we should just pay him what he wants.”
So we’ll see what happens. It’s been a strange situation, punctuated by a strange set of contradictory and incomplete reports.
There’s one specific report about which I’m confident. As Mike Silver of the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Tuesday, the hold-in is bugging coach Kyle Shanahan. The longer it lasts, the more he wants it to end.
