Throughout the offseason, there was rampant speculation on Brandon Aiyuk's future with the San Francisco 49ers. Numerous trade offers emerged for Aiyuk, with the Pittsburgh Steelers getting close to acquiring him. However, before the 49ers pulled the trigger on a trade with the Steelers, they re-signed Aiyuk. With that saga behind them, San Francisco could focus on their regular season with Aiyuk in tow. However, after San Francisco's season-opening win over the New York Jets, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan wanted to put the Aiyuk trade speculation to rest once and for all.
According to NFL insider Jay Glazer, the team was in the final stages of a trade deal with the Steelers on the day Aiyuk signed his contract extension. Aiyuk arrived early at the 49ers' facility that day and met with head coach Kyle Shanahan. Realizing Aiyuk wanted to stay with the team, Shanahan quickly tried to halt the trade discussions. However, he couldn't reach the front office because they were already on the phone with the Steelers.
“So Shanahan actually ran all the way upstairs, said, ‘Hold this. Put a hold on these trade talks right now. Pittsburgh, we'll call you right back,'” Glazer continued. “They went down and talked to Aiyuk for about two hours. They said, ‘Look, you have until the end of practice. We're either trading you to Pittsburgh today, or you could take the deal that's been on the table. It's up to you, but you have until the end of practice.'”
What did Kyle Shanahan say about the 49ers-Steelers trade?
Shanahan confirmed Glazer's report but didn't delve into specifics. When asked if the story was true, he quipped, “Most of it, yeah.”
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Pressed for details, like how he ran upstairs to stop the trade, Shanahan said, “It was that I wanted to make sure he wasn't traded already. But no, that's how I kind of reported you guys throughout the whole time. You guys would ask me stuff about it, and I say, ‘Anything could happen.' There were reports that we almost traded with some teams, and then we didn't. Some were true, some weren't, but all options were open.”
Ultimately, Aiyuk stayed with the 49ers, and Shanahan was relieved by the outcome.
“It was a tough thing to kind of get to the final spot of it on both sides,” Shanahan admitted. “And when it was all said and done, I'm glad that we had the patience. I'm glad it worked out the way it did because I love having B.A. here.”
