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Nick Wagoner, ESPN Staff Writer
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The dramatic roller-coaster ride that has been high-profile contract negotiations between the San Francisco 49ers and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk ends where it all began more than six months ago — with the Niners and Aiyuk sticking together for the long haul.
Aiyuk and the Niners on Thursday agreed to terms on a four-year, $120 million contract extension that will keep him in San Francisco through the 2028 season, sources told Adam Schefter of ESPN.
It’s the same deal that has been on the table from the 49ers since August 12, league sources told Schefter.
The extension includes $76 million in guarantees, with $47 million to be paid to Aiyuk before April 1, 2025, sources told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
Aiyuk joins Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill as the fifth-highest receiver in the NFL with an average of $30 million per season.
The deal began in what was possibly the most controversial step of the negotiations as the Niners publicly announced Aiyuk on Wednesday with coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch saying they expected him to participate in practice.
Aiyuk did not practice Wednesday or Thursday, leaving open the possibility of team discipline. The agreement was, however, guaranteed Aiyuk can spend the next 10 days preparing for the September 9 opener against the New York Jets.
For almost two years before the extension ended, the Niners maintained they always intended to re-sign Aiyuk. There have been many doubts about that outcome in recent weeks after the wideout requested a trade before the start of training camp on July 23.
Not long after, the Niners — for the first time — appeared serious about trading Aiyuk.
With strong interest from the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns and New England Patriots, the 49ers and Aiyuk are evaluating their options. In order to make a deal, the team must meet the needs of Niner as well as Aiyuk for a good contract extension.
While each of these teams seemed to be able to check one of those boxes, no one was able to do both, which helped the Niners and Aiyuk return to the negotiating table to settle their differences.
The result is a long-awaited deal that ensures the Niners’ top spot is nowhere to be seen as San Francisco seeks a sixth Lombardi Trophy from a franchise that has eluded them in four of the past five seasons.
Now the Niners not only have the best receiver for another run in the Super Bowl, but they can keep him with quarterback Brock Purdy as part of the team’s offensive base for the next five years.
In 2023, Aiyuk had a breakout season, leading the Niners in receiving yards (1,342) while finishing ninth in the NFL in receiving yards per game (83.9), second in yards per reception (17.9) and first in yards per target (12.9) on the road to the second team All-Pro nod. The return also means the Niners could have the same starting 11 on offense from last year, with Aiyuk able to team with fellow wideouts Deebo Samuel and Jauan Jennings, while rookies Ricky Pearsall and Jacob Cowing thrive.
To get to this point, it will take time and patience on both sides. Shortly after the 49ers lost Super Bowl LVIII in February, Aiyuk said he would stay in San Francisco “if it’s the right move.”
When asked what it was like, Aiyuk only said, “to be a champion.”
From there, things became more controversial after Lynch confirmed at a league meeting in March that the team wanted to pay Aiyuk. Following the comment, Aiyuk posted a series of emojis to his Instagram story that translated to “money talk, bull — walk away.”
April’s NFL draft brings another important benchmark into the discussion. At the time, Lynch and Shanahan made it clear that they would listen to the call on receivers just like any other player but still had no desire to move on from Aiyuk.
“I’ve communicated on multiple occasions: our desire is for him to be here and be a part of the Niners for the rest of his career,” Lynch said in April. “We’re working on it… I can say we have a good talk, and I’m just going to leave it at that.”
Because of that, a trade involving Aiyuk would have required a hefty return to San Francisco. During draft weekend, no offer came close, and Lynch and Shanahan again emphasized their desire to re-sign Aiyuk, even after using their first-round pick (No. 31 overall) on Pearsall.
The Niners’ selection of Pearsall had some insight into the state of the relationship between the team and Aiyuk, who played briefly with Pearsall at Arizona State. After voting, Aiyuk texted Lynch and Shanahan, “Pick fire, I can’t lie.”
Aiyuk remained absent from the team’s offseason program and he also failed to appear at the full squad’s minicamp in early June, incurring a fine of more than $101,000 as negotiations reached a temporary stalemate.
In the meantime, other receivers around the league reeled in big contracts:
The deal together provided the outline for a potential Aiyuk deal and drove his value higher, which led to his eventual trade demand.
Before the Niners opened training camp on July 23rd, Aiyuk officially requested a trade. Even after that, Lynch insisted that Aiyuk was likely to stay around at least through this season, with sources telling ESPN that other teams have reached out about trading for Aiyuk only to be told that the Niners have no interest in dealing with him.
“We really want Brandon to be a Niner going forward,” Lynch said July 23. “We’re always open to hearing things but like I said, we expect Brandon to be an integral part of our team as he has been and excited about that.”
Aiyuk then reported to the training camp with his teammates, although he did not participate in the training. Instead, he attended meetings and watched practices from the sidelines.
Despite the wild week, a trade of Aiyuk to the Steelers or another team never materialized, and the parties resumed discussions that ultimately led to an extension. Before Thursday’s deal, Aiyuk was scheduled to play the 2024 season on a fifth-year option that defaults to his rookie contract signed in 2020, which would have paid him $14.124 million.
This is the fifth year in a row that the 49ers have re-signed one of their stars before or during training camp: end George Kittle (2020), linebacker Fred Warner (2021), Samuel (2022) and Nick Bosa (2023).
Aiyuk is only the second first-round pick (along with Bosa) the Niners have made on Lynch and Shanahan to sign a second contract with the team.
