Aday after a viral hug between San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, little has changed.
Aiyuk remains out of practice amid a contract standoff, and he didn’t even attend practice on August 2. His cameo appearance at the August 1 practice where he greeted Shanahan riled up speculation, which the head coach addressed the day after.
“That’s just usually how we greet each other, honestly,” Shanahan told reporters. “You guys would see maybe a lot more hugs in here if we had a film for you guys, but we’re not on ‘Hard Knocks’. We saw him on the field. He hadn’t been on the field a lot.”
“We walked by each other and it’s usually how we greet each other. Bro hug, nothing more, nothing less. Thank you,” Shanahan added.
#49ers Brandon Aiyuk just walked to midfield and dapped up John Lynch & Kyle Shanahan 👀 pic.twitter.com/eB6OmbxfW9
— 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙎𝙁𝙉𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨 (@TheSFNiners) July 31, 2024
Aiyuk has been persistent throughout the offseason and into training camp over getting a new contract. He has a fifth-year option with the 49ers worth $14.12 million, but his potential of $26.2 million annually, based on Spotrac’s projection, has him waiting instead.
“Yeah, no updates,” Shanahan said about Aiyuk.
For the 49ers, it’s not just Aiyuk. Offensive tackle Trent Williams also wants a bigger contract, and he remains out, too. Williams has a six-year, $31.56 million deal with the 49ers, but he’s also at the tail end of his career at age 36.
“Same with Trent,” Shanahan said.
49ers “Need” Both Brandon Aiyuk and Trent Williams, Analyst Says
The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami sees the two All-Pro caliber players as having the leverage instead of the 49ers at this point. Both players also played key roles in the 49ers reaching the Super Bowl last year.
“If 49ers management hoped that Williams and Aiyuk’s absences would hardly be noticeable, and maybe give the team an extra edge in the negotiations … well, no, the exact opposite is occurring,” Kawakami wrote. “For now, Williams and Aiyuk are winning in the public eye and almost certainly winning the negotiating tug-of-war. The 49ers need them.”
“Which brings into question the 49ers’ philosophy of pushing these talks to the latest possible breaking point, but that’s a whole other column,” Kawakami continued. “The practical point is that the 49ers have a ton of talented players in these practices, but they’re being overshadowed by the talented players who aren’t out there. And for a team that is urgently seeking the first Super Bowl victory of this era, it’s a very strange place to be.”
49ers Struggled Without Trent Williams Last Year
San Francisco’s only miserable stretch of football in 2023 occurred with Williams on the sideline.
He injured his ankle in Week 6 against the Cleveland Browns, and the 5-0 Niners tumbled along the way. San Francisco lost that game followed by losses to the Minnesota Vikings and Cincinnati Bengals.
The 49ers started winning again with Williams back on the field after and only lost one more regular season game with the regular starters. San Francisco didn’t find out what it was like to lose Aiyuk last season, but the team lost fellow star wide receiver Deebo Samuel to injury during that same stretch with Williams out.
The 49ers could face a similar reality this fall, depending on how contract negotiations with Williams and Aiyuk play out.
