It's Now Up to Brandon Aiyuk to Decide if He Wants to Be Traded to the Patriots or Browns

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The last we saw of Brandon Aiyuk, he was struggling through a (for him) rather pedestrian 3 catches on 6 targets for 49 yards performance in a losing Super Bowl effort. From there he headed into the sort of offseason 26 year old former 1st rounders with two 1,000-yard seasons tend to enjoy when they're reaching the end of their rookie contracts. Which is to say he's probably opened a Swiss bank account. And he's shopped himself around for someone who'll fill that account with that sweet, sweet cheddar the 49ers have been unwilling to give him. 

Now as we hit the second week of August and the first full week of preseason games, the list of trading partners has, by all reports, been narrowed down to just two, New England and Cleveland:

Source - The 49ers have negotiated the framework of trades that would send wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk to the Cleveland Browns or the New England Patriots, a league source told NBC Sports Bay Area on Monday night.

Now it's up to Aiyuk to determine if he will accept the contract terms from either of those franchises, the source said.

The 49ers gave permission to Aiyuk to negotiate potential contracts with the Browns, Patriots, Washington Commanders and Pittsburgh Steelers, the source said. …

The Browns would be in a position to add Aiyuk if wide receiver Amari Cooper were sent to the 49ers as part of the trade, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reported. 

The Patriots are expected to include former 49ers wide receiver Kendrick Bourne as part of the deal if Aiyuk were to accept New England’s offer.

As you'd imagine, I have many thoughts. The first being, did the 49ers narrow down their choices to these two trade offers? Like how do they at all equate to one another. I take a back seat to no man when it comes to my respect for Kendrick Bourne. He seems like a hard worker and a great teammate and all. And the day he escaped from whatever weird, unexplained doghouse he ended up in during the Matt Patricia era was one of the highlights of 2023. But he missed half of last season. His season-high in Foxboro was 800 yards in Mac Jones' rookie year. Amari Cooper is a five-time Pro Bowler with 1,000-plus yards in five of the last six seasons. So, assuming the reports are accurate that both teams are offering a 2025 2nd round pick to go with these veteran wideouts, how exactly is this choice a tossup for San Francisco? Try going on Auto Trader and offering your Prius as a trade in while trying to get the same price as someone else got for his Cybertruck. Or to make a much more apples-to-apples comp, a week into your Fantasy season, try offering the guy who has Cooper a straight-up swap of Bourne, and see how fast you get shunned by everyone in the league and society in general.

That said, Aiyuk stands to make $14 million and change in this fifth year of his rookie deal, and is expected to be looking for a bump to $30 million this year. And somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 years and $124 million. (As they say, nice neighborhood.) All of which begs the question of whether he's worth the massive investment. And I'm talking strictly from a Patriots perspective. Because as far as the Browns go, I don't have a Dawg in their fight. 

That Aiyuk is a $30 million wide receiver is not in question. That's the going rate for a guy of his skill, production and age range. He should be entering his athletic peak, and has already established he's an elite talent. And the Pats are uniquely able to pay him. They're second in cap space for each of the next two years, even after extending almost all of their key young talents on both sides of the ball this offseason. So they can afford him if they want.

Ironically the only team with more cap room than them for this year is the 49ers, who are nevertheless jettisoning the pod on their WR1. Which probably ought to concern us all. What is it about that working relationship that makes John Lynch more interested in defending a conference championship with an injured Bourne and a future 2nd rounder than a stud with 1,250 yards and 17.9 yards per reception, which was second most in the league? Especially when Cooper was third with 17.4? Forgive me, but something's not right about that.

But there's a bigger reason why I'm not jumping at the prospect of having the most talented deep threat this team has seen since probably Randy Moss. And and a better one. And it is the receivers we currently have. 

Before you dogpile me, in no universe would Aiyuk walk into the receivers room at One Patriots Place and not automatically be the Alpha. By no means am I suggesting he wouldn't bring a tremendous upgrade in talent and experience. Let's stipulate to that. It's a fact not in dispute. 

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What I am suggesting is that it's a high price to pay in terms of draft capital and cash at this particular moment in this franchise's development. I'm in a place mentally and emotionally where I'm not interested in The Quick Fix. I accept that in order to do this right and make this team a reasonable facsimilie of what it once was, it's going to take time. That is, if we're interested in doing this right. Which I am. That means keeping those high draft picks and filling needs all over the roster. Starting with, but by no means limited to, both offensive tackle spots. With or without Aiyuk, that 2nd rounder is probably going to be in the Top 36 or so. And I'm not OK with going 64 selections on Day 2 of the draft without a pick. Not for a team still very much in a rebuild.

And to me, the way to truly do this right is to see what we have before we go running off to get our hands on the shiny new thing. Mostly due to the fact as we sit here on August 6th, I'm extremely high on the upside of the guys they've drafted the last couple of drafts. From the rookies:

The second year guys:

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And dare I add, the third year guy who some are arguing has been the best receiver in camp overall. Who's added some muscle and is defeating the best cornerback on the roster off the line of scrimmage to win routes like he never did in his first two seasons:

I'm willing to admit I might just be gun shy after getting burned by so many other accomplished veteran receivers who were brought in here at considerable cost, only to accomplish nothing. Mohamed Sanu. DeVante Parker. Juju Smith-Schuster, who's still somehow here. It's true I've been hurt before and could just be incapable of falling in love again too soon. But I think I'm just preferring a sane, rational and patient approach. And not ready to believe putting a huge investment in Aiyuk is going to make much of a difference. I reserve the right to change my mind if he comes here and starts lighting it up, turning losses into wins. But right now I'd rather just see Eliot Wolf and Jerod Mayo develop what we have and use the draft pick and the money elsewhere.