Everyone wants to be valued in life. 

Whether you’re an NFL WR, or a doctor, people will always seek fair market value in their profession. 

But with the 49ers and Brandon Aiyuk continuing to be at a contractual impasse, those close to him suggest he’s pessimistic about a future in the Bay Area, opening the door for the Pittsburgh Steelers:

Brandon Aiyuk & 49ers remain far apart 

The Pittsburgh #Steelers continue to pursue a trade for San Francisco #49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk, per a league source.

Aiyuk and the 49ers have made almost no progress on a new deal. Although San Francisco would prefer to keep Aiyuk, it’s becoming increasingly likely that the team… pic.twitter.com/D0g2wBvdeW

— Steelers Update (@SteelersUpdate1) June 8, 2024

“At one point, he thought he may sign,” Aiyuk’s personal trainer and former Bengals WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh said on 95.7 the Game. “So it was like, ‘I’m not gonna come out because I might have to go when I sign.’ And so that optimistic outlook has turned into a pessimistic outlook now. Like, damn, at one point he thought, ‘Hey, I might be leaving soon.’ So now, it’s like, ‘I have no idea.'”

Typically, the longer teams wait to a get a deal done, the more they have to pay for said asset. While no one should argue that Aiyuk is in the same tier as Justin Jefferson, who just signed for over $35m APY, Aiyuk and his camp are looking to beat some of the other recent WR deals:

“I’m hearing maybe their [49ers] offer’s in the $26 million range, which, you know, it’s certainly not just Justin Jefferson money, nor should it be, but it’s closer to the DeVonta Smith, Amon-Ra St. Brown, that next tier down. They, [49ers] I think, believe that he’s a really good player, who they’ve developed and they would like to have. And they think he’s one of the better receivers in the league, kind of on that next tier, obviously,” 49ers reporter Mike Silver recently said.

Philadelphia Eagles WR DeVonta Smith was the first of the young crop of WRs to sign an extension this offseason, coming in at $25m APY. The Detroit Lions and Amon-Ra St. Brown then struck a deal that made him the highest paid WR in NFL history at a little over $30m APY until the Vikings and Jefferson agreed to terms. 

So Aiyuk is likely looking for a number that beats St. Brown, where as the 49ers likely want a deal that places him in between Smith and St. Brown. 

To be clear, even if the two sides can’t come to terms on an extension, Aiyuk is still under contract for 2024 via his fifth year option. But if the two sides really are that pessimistic, fetching some high-end draft capital for the talented WR opposed to watching him walk out the door for virtually nothing in 2025 makes more sense for San Francisco.