Top-10 money may not be enough to keep Brandon Aiyuk in San Francisco.
The 49ers are reportedly offering their star receiver roughly $26 million per year in a contract extension, according to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Mike Silver, but the sides have yet to come to a deal.
An average annual value of $26 million would rank eighth in the NFL in 2024, per overthecap.com.
“I’m hearing maybe their offer is in the $26 million range, which certainly is not Justin Jefferson money, nor should it be, but it’s closer to that DeVonta Smith, Amon-Ra St. Brown, that next tier down,” Silver said on KNBR’s “Papa and Lund” this past weekend.
While $26 million per year may seem like a ton, athletes are always using previous deals as precedents to try to do better for themselves.
The wide receiver market has been quite active this offseason with the Vikings’ Jefferson just setting the new record with an AAV of $35 million.
Others such as the Eagles’ A.J. Brown ($32 million AAV, second), the Lions’ St. Brown ($30 million, third) and the Dolphins’ Jaylen Waddle ($28.3 million, fifth) all received extensions worth more than $26 million per year, with Philadelphia’s DeVonta Smith ($25 million, eighth) coming in just short.
Aiyuk is set to play on the franchise tag worth $14.1 million, and seemingly would rather wait for free agency than lock in a deal that would resemble top-10 money more than top-five money.
The 26-year-old views St. Brown’s four-year, $120 million deal as the benchmark, according to ESPN, and 49ers wide receiver coach, former NFL wideout T.J. Houshmandzadeh, said in a radio interview with 95.7 FM in San Francisco that Aiyuk would accept that offer.
“(The 49ers), I think, believe that he’s a very good player who they’ve developed and they would like to have and they believe he’s one of the better receivers in the league, kind of on that next tier obviously, nowhere near, in my opinion, Justin Jefferson or maybe the other guys you talk about on that top tier,” Silver said. “But they think he’s really good, and really good right now, those numbers are eye-popping.”
The situation is complicated for the 49ers by Deebo Samuel’s contract.
Samuel is under contract for two more years with an AAV of $23.9 million, which is the 11th-highest mark.
The team considered trading him leading into the draft but ultimately kept him on the roster while planning for the future with first-round receiver Ricky Pearsall from Florida.
With all of their other long-term investments, such as lengthy deals for Christian McCaffrey, Trent Williams and Fred Warner, the 49ers have finite money to spend.
And quarterback Brock Purdy is about to receive a long-term deal in the near future.
They are not in the same position as say Minnesota, which could pay Jefferson since quarterback Sam Darnold is on a one-year deal and the team just drafted fellow signal-caller J.J. McCarthy.
Silver said he believes one — if not both — of the receivers are gone after the 2024 season.
“I do think the 49ers are of the mindset that in today’s NFL, paying one receiver — or let alone two — at premium prices in their overall model, once you have to pay the quarterback, which they will with Purdy, isn’t necessarily the smartest way to go,” Silver said. “What factors into that is a lot of receivers are coming up through the draft that teams find attractive. You’re seeing that reflected in draft position.”
