SANTA CLARA — Whether or not Brandon Aiyuk is phased out of the 49ers’ Super Bowl plans, his employment status has risen above all storylines this training camp and offseason, even if Trent Williams’ own contract dispute factors more into a title hunt.
Aiyuk’s showdown is turning into a countdown. While he, the 49ers, and his courters sort things out, consider the following:
— It’s unique and unheard of, in this 49ers regime’s eight years, that potential trade partners are identified before a deal goes down. This works twofold: It ignites a bidding war, reportedly between the Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers; and, it puts the onus on Aiyuk to choose his destination while naming his contract’s price.
— If the 49ers were to make an equitable player-for-player swap, they shouldn’t ask for Aiyuk’s blessing, not after this six-month procession of contract haggling.
— If the 49ers are intent on trading a back-to-back 1,000-yard receiver, why not wait out the preseason and training camp to see if another team’s 1,000-yard receiver gets injured for a more lucrative trade?
— A decade ago, the Browns tried to acquire another high-profile Niner via trade. Instead, Jim Harbaugh stayed put to coach the 49ers for a fourth and final season before joining the University of Michigan.
— The 49ers-Browns pregame scuffle last October began with Aiyuk taunting the Browns and bumping into wide receiver Elijah Moore.
— Amari Cooper’s stats last season (72 catches, 1,250 yards, five touchdowns) are somewhat comparable to Aiyuk’s (75 catches, 1,342 yards, seven touchdowns). In Cooper’s nine seasons, however, he has made seven Pro Bowls and seven 1,000-yard seasons. Aiyuk: no Pro Bowls, two 1,000-yard seasons.
— The Patriots bowed out Tuesday night, ESPN reported. Shipping Aiyuk there only made sense if the 49ers acquired defensive end Matthew Judon, who is embroiled in his own contract dispute and not practicing. Judon turns 32 next week and is entering his ninth season, so he’s not ascending like Aiyuk, but he would bolster the 49ers’ most important unit, their defensive front.
— Aiyuk’s only two-touchdown game last year in his career-best season came in the opening win at Pittsburgh. He caught all eight of his targets for 129 yards there, a place now called home by former NFC West rival Russell Wilson.
— Nick Bosa on last year’s contract stalemate that ended just days before the opener: “As it got closer and closer, it gets pretty dicey, but I definitely didn’t want to be traded. It’s a good place to be for sure. I’m very thankful and grateful to be paid and (be) here, because I don’t think there are many organizations as good as this one.”
— Bosa, George Kittle, Fred Warner, Trent Williams, Kyle Juszczyk, and Deebo Samuel all got paid in recent years at top-of-the-market prices. Aiyuk wanting the same treatment isn’t surprising. Nor is the fact that the 49ers’ top-heavy payroll may sway them giving in to Aiyuk.
— Eleven players have been traded away under the Shanahan-Lynch regime: Vance McDonald (2017, Steelers), Rashard Robinson (2017, Jets), Daniel Kilgore (2018, Dolphins), Eli Harold (2018, Broncos), Dekoda Watson (2019, Broncos), DeForest Buckner (2020, Colts), Marquise Goodwin (2020, Eagles), Matt Breida (2020, Dolphins), Kwon Alexander (2020, Saints), Jonas Griffith (2021, Broncos), Jeff Wilson Jr. (2022, Dolphins), Trey Lance (2023, Cowboys). The only one who drew a first-round pick in return was Buckner.
— Aiyuk counts $14.1 million against the current cap with this fifth-year option salary. Jerry Rice’s highest cap figure: $4.5 million in 2000, his last of 16 seasons with the 49ers.
— Rice and Terrell Owens are the only 49ers to produce 1,000 receiving yards in at least three consecutive seasons, a feat Aiyuk could attempt to match this season.
— If Aiyuk stays, it enhances his loyalist, Faithful persona. He surely will claim no team offers what the 49ers do: the best shot at a Lombardi Trophy. That’s priceless, right?
— If Aiyuk leaves, his final play in a 49ers uniform saw him break open across the middle in the end zone, while Brock Purdy’s hurried pass sailed incomplete over Jauan Jennings’ arms in overtime of Super Bowl LVIII.
