Brandon Aiyuk has formally requested a trade from the San Francisco 49ers. They reportedly aren’t planning to oblige him. But plans can change if another team makes an offer that blows the 49ers away. This is the NFL. Every man has his price.
What might that price be for Aiyuk, who’s already under contract for 2024?
First, consider the pressure the 49ers face to win now. They’ve been to at least the NFC Championship Game in four of the past five years, but if they can’t break through to win the Super Bowl this season, the franchise’s title drought will have extended to three decades. Put simply, the 49ers — with a star-studded roster that’ll only become more difficult to retain as time passes — are more starved than ever to hoist a Lombardi Trophy. That means they’re not in the business of worsening their team for 2024 — even if they stand to gain assets that can make them better in the future.
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The 49ers are set on getting better now, and because the 2024 NFL Draft is far behind us, that’d mean any trade of Aiyuk would likely have to yield a player in return — one who can help the 49ers in their 2024 bid for the Super Bowl.
That’s a tough condition to satisfy, which is why a trade is unlikely. But we ran our trade simulator anyway, featuring offers from writers for six teams who might be interested in Aiyuk. All offers were weighed by 49ers writer David Lombardi. Were any of them good enough to send Aiyuk packing?
DE Zach Harrison and 2025 first-round pick for Aiyuk
The Falcons could be sneakily aggressive participants if there is a real Aiyuk trade opportunity. Atlanta’s brass has shown the desire to be all-in under first-year coach Raheem Morris. Plus, the Falcons were outbid for edge rusher Montez Sweat last year only to watch Sweat turn around the Chicago Bears pass rush, and Atlanta’s unproven wide receiving corps could use a boost. So they would seem happy to offer up their 2025 first-rounder plus a young player. The problem is finding a young player who they can spare and would help San Francisco. Atlanta isn’t deep enough at any position (except quarterback, we know), so any quality player it gives up will hurt. Linebacker Nate Landman would give the 49ers insurance and quality depth while Dre Greenlaw continues his ACL rehab. But the 22-year-old Harrison is a more tempting offer, and 81-year-old Arthur Blank feels like he’s operating with a sense of urgency at the moment. — Josh Kendall, Falcons beat writer
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DE Malcolm Koonce and a 2025 third-round pick for Aiyuk
Social media gave us a hot Aiyuk for Davante Adams rumor this week (thanks internet!), but that doesn’t make much sense for the Raiders. Both receivers will need a new contract soon (Aiyuk is unhappy while Adams is due to make $36 million in salary in 2025) and Adams is the better player. The Raiders are also very high on their No. 2 receiver, Jakobi Meyers, and drafted tight end/Swiss Army knife Brock Bowers. So the best they could do would be to offer Koonce and a third-round pick, given how deep they are on the defensive line, and no one is likely to trade for 2023 first-round pick Tyree Wilson. Wilson has worked hard this offseason to get stronger and this would open up a role for him, across from Maxx Crosby. But this still feels forced — as well as too big a move right now for a new general manager in Tom Telesco who is still trying to get a feel for how good his team is. — Vic Tafur, Raiders beat writer
A Davante Adams for Brandon Aiyuk would be spicy but isn’t realistic for the Raiders. (Trevor Ruszkowski / USA Today)
Edge rusher Joey Bosa and a 2025 fourth-round pick for Aiyuk
The Chargers moved on from their top two receivers this offseason in Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. Even after drafting Ladd McConkey in the second round and signing DJ Chark in free agency, the Chargers are thin at receiver. They need proven top-end talent. Aiyuk would be a logical fit for the roster. The Chargers have the cap space — in 2024 and beyond — to give him the type of extension he seeks. In March, Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz forecasted what the receiver market could look like soon. “Good wide receivers are going to become available, whether it’s through cuts, cap casualties or trades,” he said then. That was before the McConkey pick, of course. But it is hard to imagine Hortiz stopped monitoring the market.
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Bosa, coming off an injury-riddled season, would join his brother Nick in San Francisco. Bosa reworked his contract and took a pay cut in March to remain with the Chargers. He has said he wants to retire with the organization. In that sense, offering him in a trade at this point would be a rather cold move on a human level. Additionally, the Chargers are relying on the strength of their edge rusher group — Bosa, Khalil Mack, Tuli Tuipulotu and Bud Dupree — to elevate a defensive unit otherwise in transition talent-wise. Still, it is an interesting scenario to consider. Bosa is in the final guaranteed year of his deal, and this trade would provide a pretty considerable return before another contract decision is due on Bosa when he is set to count for $36.4 million on the 2025 cap. — Daniel Popper, Chargers beat writer
Edge rusher Matthew Judon and a 2025 second-round pick for Aiyuk
The Patriots have made it clear they badly want a No. 1 wide receiver for new quarterback Drake Maye, whether that receiver arrives this year or next. Aiyuk could fill that role for the Patriots, who have the most cap space in the league, leaving them plenty of room to extend Aiyuk. And New England could give Aiyuk tons of targets, given their middling group of wide receivers.
Judon would give the 49ers a major boost in their pass rush (he has 32 sacks in his last 38 games), and while it would hurt the Pats to give him up, Judon will be 32 this season and wants a new contract — not a combination that typically lines up with a rebuilding team. While this doesn’t land the 49ers the first-round pick they probably covet, the Pats’ second-rounder next year has a good chance of being a top-40 pick, and they get that while dramatically improving their pass rush as they load up for another run at the Super Bowl. — Chad Graff, Patriots beat writer
Matthew Judon would give the 49ers another strong edge rusher but he is 32 and missed much of last season with a biceps injury. (Robert Deutsch / USA Today)
Edge rusher Alex Highsmith and OT Dan Moore Jr. for Aiyuk and a sixth-round pick
The Steelers have been pursuing a top receiver to pair with George Pickens and would love to have Aiyuk fill out their revamped offense. Also, the Steelers have a general manager (Omar Khan) who has earned the nickname “The Khan Artist,” so anything is possible. If the 49ers seek a player-for-player exchange, it complicates things. The Steelers have little to offer in that scenario because they prefer to draft, develop and sign their own.
Perhaps the most logical player they could offer is somebody whom they would not want to part with at almost any cost (and likely wouldn’t). Highsmith signed a four-year, $68 million deal last year that runs through the 2027 season, and he has 21 1/2 sacks over the past two seasons, the 12th-most in the league. Second-year guy Nick Herbig seems primed to be a big-time pass rusher waiting in the wings, but he’s still an unknown long term. The Steelers could sweeten the deal by adding Moore, who has 49 career starts in three seasons but is in a contract year and has become expendable with the team drafting two first-round tackles the past two years. Still, it’s highly unlikely, if not out of the question, that the Steelers would even consider moving Highsmith. — Mark Kaboly, Steelers beat writer
WR Terry McLaurin for Aiyuk and a 2025 compensatory third-round pick
Aiyuk’s connections with the Commanders — he played college football with first-round quarterback Jayden Daniels and Washington GM Adam Peters was part of the 49ers front office that selected Aiyuk 25th in the 2020 draft — and the receiver’s thirsty social media posts highlighting Daniels has kept this story afloat. The Commanders are not one player away from contention — especially not a heavily dependent receiver. Trading coveted future picks and using a significant portion of their ample salary cap space for Aiyuk is the opposite of Peters’ first-year actions. Washington has holes at three premium positions — offensive tackle, edge rusher and cornerback — plus McLaurin and 2022 first-round pick Jahan Dotson at receiver.
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That said, if Peters seeks a reunion for him and his young quarterback, the logical bait is the wildly popular, productive (and likely untradable) McLaurin. The sixth-year receiver has two years remaining on the three-year, $69 million extension that began in 2023; the additional time is why San Francisco gives up a future pick. Making Aiyuk one of the five highest-paid receivers will lead to McLaurin’s camp wanting a raise next year when the contract no longer includes guaranteed money. At 29, McLaurin is roughly two and a half years older than Aiyuk. — Ben Standig, Commanders beat writer
The decision
Atlanta is the only team dangling a first-round pick, which is undeniably valuable. The 49ers may be able to flip that pick for an impact player at the trade deadline. Unfortunately, Harrison — who had three sacks as a rookie — doesn’t move the needle for a team needing an immediate return. He’d compete for the fourth and final rotational spot at defensive end. That’d be tough for the 49ers to swallow, considering they’d lose a top-end receiver.
Koonce and Highsmith have been more productive, making the Las Vegas and Pittsburgh offers more intriguing for the here and now. But would Koonce or Highsmith give a 49ers’ D-line that already features Nick Bosa, Leonard Floyd and Yetur Gross-Matos the type of boost that outweighs the offense’s loss of Aiyuk on the other side? (The Steelers’ offer of Moore doesn’t move the needle — he allowed even more pressure than 49ers tackle Colton McKivitz last season.)
It seems only true star power could be reasonably expected to do that. The Chargers’ Joey Bosa and New England’s Judon, therefore, grab attention. The latter, however, will be 32 this season and is coming off a biceps tear. The 29-year-old Joey Bosa has dealt with his own injury issues, but the chance to add him at a cost of only $8 million in 2024 — plus an option that’d cost the 49ers about $25 million in 2025 while giving them a platform to negotiate a potential extension — is intriguing.
The 49ers fielded the league’s No. 1 offense with Aiyuk last season. But if they feel quarterback Brock Purdy and the other weapons can keep churning without him, the thought of a Bosa brother bookend squeezing the pocket against Patrick Mahomes is very tempting.
Washington’s offer of McLaurin is also worth looking at. He’s been a 1,000-yard receiver for four consecutive seasons. He’d come at an affordable rate — around $18 million — for the 49ers in each of the next two seasons. But it’s hard to say McLaurin would be better for the 49ers than Aiyuk, who’s a key blocker in the system.
A true short-term splash is mandatory and that leaves the older Bosa brother as the most viable of these offers. The 49ers, who infamously traded Charles Haley away to the Dallas Cowboys about three decades ago, can roll the dice on a deal with the Chargers to acquire a star defensive end this time. Maybe that’s what it’ll take to smother Mahomes and actually win the Super Bowl this time. — David Lombardi, 49ers beat writer
(Top photos of Joey Bosa and Brandon Aiyuk: Dustin Satloff and Cooper Neill / Getty Images)
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