On Sunday, San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch said the team was in no hurry to release wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk this offseason.
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While the 49ers are adamant Aiyuk has already played his last snap for San Francisco, Lynch intends to seek a trade to recoup some value from the former first-round pick.
“Like I said earlier, I think it’s the prudent thing to do,” Lynch said. “He’s an extremely talented player. He’s been an extremely effective player in our league. The situation didn’t work itself out here. That’s not to say that it can’t be rekindled somewhere else. And we’d be happy to do something with anyone, if the opportunity presented itself.”
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The Washington Commanders have been floated as a potential trade partner because of Aiyuk’s relationship with quarterback Jayden Daniels. The two players were teammates in college at Arizona State.
Per Adam Schefter of ESPN, Aiyuk isn’t making it easy for teams to trade for him this offseason. League teams don’t want to take on Aiyuk’s current contract, and the receiver isn’t in stable communication with the 49ers or other interested teams to try and make an agreement on a possible new deal following a trade.
“I think the reason that a team’s not trading for him right now is they don’t want to assume the current contract that he has,” Schefter said during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Monday. “And so, it’s a situation where he hasn’t been in clear, constant communication with the Niners. They’ve had a hard time getting a hold of him.”
“Other teams, I think, have attempted to reach out. They’ve had a hard time getting a hold of him.”
Aiyuk is making it harder for the 49ers to pull off a trade this offseason by not answering those calls. Frankly, San Francisco would have a hard time trading the receiver regardless, as other teams know the front office will eventually have to release Aiyuk if they do not intend to play him this fall.
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