The developments of the New England Patriots’ aggressive pursuit in the Brandon Aiyuk sweepstakes continues to unravel in the aftermath of the two sides eventually not coming to terms on a blockbuster deal with the San Francisco 49ers earlier this week.
After the Patriots had made a compelling offer to both the 49ers in their trade offer for the star receiver, as well as towards Aiyuk’s camp for a massive contract to come aboard in New England, it was an effort that ultimately proved unsuccessful as there wasn’t any substantial interest in the WR’s camp to take his services to Foxboro.
In the end, it was a disappointing situation that came to the dismay of Patriots fans hungry to bring a top-tier WR in the mix to help lift this offense for next season. And more importantly, making the trade happen to help assist the development of third-overall pick Drake Maye.
However, as more information comes to form about the inevitable fallout, it’s starting to become clear that Aiyuk was not on the same page with the Patriots about their QB plans.
According to NFL insider Dianna Russini of The Athletic on the Scoop City podcast, the primary reason Aiyuk had turned down the chance to come to New England above all was their current quarterback situation for next season:
“[The Patriots] essentially had a contract in place for Aiyuk, giving him around $32 million a year, and with trade compensation that the San Francisco 49ers were okay with, but Aiyuk did not want to go play for New England. He does not believe the quarterback position is at the level that he wants it to be at right now… New England was rolling out the cash to get him there, and he denied them.Dianna Russini, via Scoop City
The offer of $32 million comes at an extremely high price point for Aiyuk and one that would have shifted him into the top three highest-paid receivers in the NFL in terms of AAV. Still, there wasn’t a strong desire from the 49ers receiver to make the move happen– seemingly due to the situation under center for next season.
And while New England’s quarterback room is far from perfect, it’s moving in the right direction as a top-three pick in Maye takes on his early development to become a premier NFL quarterback. Nonetheless, it doesn’t seem to be a process Aiyuk was willing to endure.
Instead, the team that has remained with consistent ties with Aiyuk in mutual interest is the Pittsburgh Steelers, with both San Francisco at the Steelers now re-engaging in trade talks ahead of next season.
With talents like Russell Wilson and Justin Fields being the ones to man down the position in the Steel City, some questions are effectively raised as to what Aiyuk exactly sees differently between the Steelers and the Patriots. Yet, the 49ers receiver has been consistently connected to Pittsburgh since his trade plausibility came to light, so maybe he sees something we don’t.
It remains to be seen if Pittsburgh is up to sending a trade package appealing enough to the 49ers to make something happen, but at the very least, they’ve got a better chance than the Patriots do to acquire him.
