Christian McCaffrey signed a lucrative extension on Tuesday afternoon with the San Francisco 49ers. That move put wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk in the spotlight, but for an entirely different reason.
Aiyuk, 26, is poised to be a free agent after the 2024 NFL season. He’ll want a big payday, especially with how receivers around the league have gotten paid lately. But the Niners don’t have an easy choice to make, what with Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel both coming due soon. It’s a conundrum that the team knows they’re going to have to tackle head on eventually.
But with that in mind, don’t expect there to be any rush to tie those loose ends up.
49ers podcaster Rob Guerrera, known as @StatsOnFire on X joined Tuesday’s episode of Up & Adams with Kay Adams. Amid the discussion on McCaffrey and his new contract, another conversation on Aiyuk emerged. Guerrera wasn’t bullish on the idea that things get tidied up. In fact, Guerrera doesn’t think there’ll be any rush at all.
“Oh it’s gonna drag out,” Guerrera told Adams after she asked how long he expects this to carry on. “If you look at the 49ers’ past four or five big contracts, they always drag it out. None of them were signed before the middle of July. This is how the 49ers operate. It’s infuriating, it’s frustrating for the players involved. George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Nick Bosa; everybody got frustrated with how the 49ers do business but this is generally what they do. It takes a long time. It’s frustrating, but, I think we’re gonna have to wait a little longer even though we keep seeing all these other wide receivers continue to get paid.”
If history tells us anything… the #49ers will be in NO RUSH to resolve the Brandon Aiyuk contract situation 🙄🔊 @StatsOnFire @heykayadams pic.twitter.com/j1IQWlx7pV
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) June 4, 2024
Aiyuk has totaled 269 receptions, 3,931 yards, and 25 touchdowns in his four-year NFL career.
