Brandon Aiyuk is a 49er! Pick #25, 2020 NFL Draft

It looks he gets his awesome $22m plus payout in T minus 16 hours…

This was something to occupy space on the website. There was never a real chance that he would be traded but it gave fns something to talk about other than Purdy's contract and who should the Niners draft. Both of those topics have been covered over and over with nothing new to offer anymore. I check the Purdy site to see if there's anything new and there never is.

I don't mind either way. BA is a good WR when healthy and I like his chances more than some rookie we draft in round 3, to be honest. We'll see what happens.

Originally posted by CatchMaster80:
This was something to occupy space on the website. There was never a real chance that he would be traded but it gave fns something to talk about other than Purdy's contract and who should the Niners draft. Both of those topics have been covered over and over with nothing new to offer anymore. I check the Purdy site to see if there's anything new and there never is.

100%.

Originally posted by Typecast:

Originally posted by Pillbusta:
Seems to me we should have signed BA last year and then traded him immediately for picks and cash if that was permissible. Otherwise were we really trying to trade him in the first place

In other words I wondering if a sign and trade was possible or is that not allowed in the NFL?

We got screwed and I don't want this happening again

The league by-laws prevent trading cash. In 2020, Clowney was a free agent. The Titans offered him a 12M/1 contract with 3M in incentives. The Saints were interested in signing Clowney, but they couldn't beat the Titans offer. They hatched a plan to have the Browns sign him for 15M/1 with a 5M signing bonus. The Browns would immediately trade Clowney to the Saints and eat a 5M dead money cap hit in exchange for a second-round pick. The Saints would get Clowney signed for 10M/1. Once the Saints had it worked out, they asked the league if such a trade would be allowed. The league said no, referencing the by-laws. The best part of this story is had the league allowed this sign-and-trade scenario to happen, Clowney would have ended up in Baltimore via Jacksonville as they too were exploring a sign-and-trade scenario.

The CBA prevents trading players that are not signed to a contract. Any trade would require Aiyuk to first sign his tender. There are also protections for players subject to a tender or qualifying offer. During the signing period, both the player and the NFLPA have a right of first refusal on any trade. The signing period ends at 4PM on July 15th, or the first Monday thereafter if July 15th falls on a Saturday or Sunday. Other concerns include "good faith" clauses in the CBA where the player has an expectation of playing for the team that signed them. The NFL and NFLPA really do not like teams messing with the first year of a multi-year contract.

The 49ers screwed themselves because the front office weren't on the same page. Paraag Marathe didn't value Aiyuk at his asking price and wanted Lynch to trade him before the draft. Lynch overvalued Aiyuk and none of the five teams that were willing to pay Aiyuk were willing to meet the 49ers demands. Jaguars turned down the 49ers offer of Pick 17 and Zay Jones. The Steelers offered pick 20 straight up and the 49ers declined. Paraag ghosted Aiyuk from mid-May to mid-July. During this time, the 49ers kept trying to trade Aiyuk and even explored trading for Justin Jefferson before he was extended. The 49ers could have had Aiyuk signed at 26M AAV in February-March. Aiyuk's value went to 120M/4 (30M AAV) when the market exploded before the draft.

In late-July, early-August, was the second time the 49ers put Aiyuk on the trade block, this time at Aiyuk's request. The 49ers agreed to trade Aiyuk for packages that include Amari Cooper from the Browns or Kendrick Bourne from the Patriots. Both teams required Aiyuk be willing to extend. Since Aiyuk declined to extend, those deals were essentially dead. The 49ers called about acquiring Davante Adams from the Raiders. The 49ers called up the Commies but the talks ended almost immediately. Lynch wanted Terry McLaurin or a first-round pick as part of the compensation. The Commies didn't want to part with McLaurin and were offering up Dotson, who the 49ers didn't want. Aiyuk had brought the Steelers to the table. The hold up with the Steelers was that they did not include players in return. Lynch tried to get Denver involved, where the Steelers would get Aiyuk for a second- and third-round pick, then flip that third-round pick for Courtland Sutton. Denver declined. They tried leaking all of their August efforts to get the Steelers to bid against themselves. That didn't work. Lynch refused to trade Aiyuk long enough for Kyle to get involved, with Kyle telling Paraag to give Aiyuk what he wanted.

So what he wanted was if he can't pass a physical in March 2025, his injury clause guarantees his entire 2026 pay, when he's presumably not injured? Who's looking after these idiots? Either John York is going to have to do it, or we're going to need to clean house and put someone in charge that has common sense with money.

The stupidest refrain in football and the one that slams your eyes closed and heads you full speed to the cellar is "Pay the Man". $70m dead cap money in 2025 to get rid of him? You can never expose yourself to that. No wonder we're cleaning everybody out.

IMO, Aiyuk is not worth a dime this year, as he's going to miss the first half, and the second half he'll be rusty like he was for 7 games last year, and worse as he'll be hesitant on that knee. Pearsall will be the better man.

Sorry, man. I Still wish we'd have tried to have taken our chances with Ben Johnson. He can't be this stupid.

Great 49ers gift ideas ⇨
moving on

In other words, there was no way in hell anyone was going to take that contract with his injuries.

Originally posted by NYniner85:

John Lynch said he expects Brandon Aiyuk to remain a 49er this year. He also said Aiyuk (ACL) did "very well" in his recent fleck-up appoint with Dr. ElAttrache.

— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) March 31, 2025

moving on

What's a fleck-up appointment?

Originally posted by 9erson3:
In other words, there was no way in hell anyone was going to take that contract with his injuries.

Or even without his injuries, and there is no way we can eat a $70m cap hit in 2025 in order to move on.

Originally posted by BOI49er:

Originally posted by 9erson3:
In other words, there was no way in hell anyone was going to take that contract with his injuries.

Or even without his injuries, and there is no way we can eat a $70m cap hit in 2025 in order to move on.

Dude was never getting moved this yr.

I thought he was gonna be traded due to his bonus, but no one is gonna give the 9ers what they want with his injury. Looks like I was wrong, but I'm glad I was.

Originally posted by NYniner85:

Originally posted by BOI49er:

Originally posted by 9erson3:
In other words, there was no way in hell anyone was going to take that contract with his injuries.

Or even without his injuries, and there is no way we can eat a $70m cap hit in 2025 in order to move on.

Dude was never getting moved this yr.

Correct. We've priced him well above his market value, with poison pills, with or without injury. And we've left ourselves no out. It has been reported the FO regrets this contract, but moving him with this contract has never been possible.

Originally posted by CatchMaster80:

Originally posted by NYniner85:

John Lynch said he expects Brandon Aiyuk to remain a 49er this year. He also said Aiyuk (ACL) did "very well" in his recent fleck-up appoint with Dr. ElAttrache.

— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) March 31, 2025

moving on

What's a fleck-up appointment?

i think the kids today call it fleek he's gonna get styled out

Originally posted by NYniner85:

John Lynch said he expects Brandon Aiyuk to remain a 49er this year. He also said Aiyuk (ACL) did "very well" in his recent fleck-up appoint with Dr. ElAttrache.

— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) March 31, 2025

moving on

Doesn't look like they got the trade returned they wanted, so Aiyuk stays.

Given the circumstances, it was never going to happen. The trade is tabled for now, but I think he will be moved next offseason as long as he returns to the field.