Brandon Aiyuk's new San Francisco 49ers contract is a win-win for both player and franchise
After all the angst that seemingly dominated the San Francisco 49ers' contract stand-off with Brandon Aiyuk, both team and player can be very happy with the end result. The details of Aiyuk's four-year, $120 million extension emerged late on Friday. While the deal does see Aiyuk receive a significant amount of money up front, with […]
After all the angst that seemingly dominated the San Francisco 49ers' contract stand-off with Brandon Aiyuk, both team and player can be very happy with the end result.
The details of Aiyuk's four-year, $120 million extension emerged late on Friday. While the deal does see Aiyuk receive a significant amount of money up front, with the All-Pro wide receiver due $47 million between now and April 1, 2025, the true pain for the 49ers does not come until the final years of the contract.
Indeed, the extension lowers his cap hit to $5.725 million, creating savings of $8.399 million for San Francisco, per Over The Cap.
His cap hits for 2025 and 2026 are just $11.191 million and $16.223 million respectively. Those will be very manageable for the 49ers as they head into a future that will likely see quarterback Brock Purdy made one of the highest-paid players in football, but Aiyuk can also be satisfied with the guaranteed money he is set to receive.
The deal will see him receive $45 million fully guaranteed at signing, the sixth-highest among wide receivers, per Spotrac, and over $10 million more than Detroit Lions star Amon-Ra St. Brown ($34.666 million) received as part of his four-year $120 million extension. Matching St. Brown was said to be a key ambition of Aiyuk in negotiations.
Additionally, with his option bonuses for 2025 and 2026 vesting and becoming fully guaranteed on April 1 next year, Aiyuk is practically guaranteed $76 million over the first three years of the deal. That total guaranteed amount is just $1 million shy of St. Brown and the sixth-highest among receivers.
Though the more onerous cap hits of $42.282 million and $44.158 million come in 2027 and 2028, with no guaranteed money attached to those years, the contract in essence becomes a year-to-year proposition. A trade, a post-June 1 release and a restructure are all mechanisms the 49ers could use to get out of the deal.
In short, it's a contract that gets Aiyuk the money has long since desired but also creates short-term and long-term flexibility for a 49ers franchise that still has a lot of issues on its to-do list, most notably a Trent Williams contract holdout that needs to be resolved sooner rather than later. So much was made of the 49ers wanting to 'win' the negotiation. In the end, both sides have reason to feel victorious.
John Lynch pays Brandon Aiyuk the perfect compliment as 49ers confirm four-year extension
It sums him up to a tee.
