The New England Patriots have pulled out of the Brandon Aiyuk sweepstakes, likely acknowledging that the San Francisco 49ers wide receiver has no desire to play for them. The Patriots were recently one of two teams considered frontrunners to acquire Aiyuk—the Cleveland Browns being the other. San Francisco even had the frameworks of trade deals worked out with both teams.
Aiyuk seeks to become one of the NFL's highest-paid receivers. He is currently slated to earn $14.124 million in 2024 on a team-exercised fifth-year option but reportedly aims for a contract closer to $30 million annually. The 49ers have not budged from their reported $26 million offer made earlier in the offseason.
NFL insider Josina Anderson shared one detail of the contract that the Patriots offered Aiyuk's camp: They were willing to pay the wideout more than $28.5 million annually.
Aiyuk Early Morning Follow-Up: The #Patriots are currently resigned to the notion #49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk isn't coming to New England-feeling that's not what Aiyuk wants, per source. I was told this morning, NE was still prepared to give Aiyuk in "excess of $28.5M/y" despite… https://t.co/W92rJ2KnHo
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) August 7, 2024
"Additional a league source said this morning there's belief within the Patriots that Aiyuk's 'preference' is to land with Pittsburgh—again their belief," Anderson wrote.
Aiyuk simply doesn't want to play for a rebuilding New England, a team with a first-time head coach and a rookie quarterback. After seemingly exiting the negotiation process earlier this week, the Pittsburgh Steelers have re-emerged as a contender to acquire Aiyuk.
It's noteworthy that the Patriots' offer doesn't seem that far off from the 49ers' last one, assuming that report was accurate.
"Doesn't seem like 49ers and Aiyuk are that far apart," Matt Barrows of The Athletic noted.
On Tuesday, when asked if there remains a scenario where a long-term deal with Aiyuk could still be worked out, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan responded, "There's a scenario for everything, so I wouldn't rule anything out."
While Aiyuk doesn't have a no-trade clause, he can effectively derail any trade by not agreeing to sign a new deal with an interested team, essentially dictating where he might go. This seems to be what happened with the Patriots.