During a Wednesday appearance on Pittsburgh sports radio station 93.7 The Fan, Pittsburgh Steelers reporter Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette addressed rumors regarding the club possibly trading for unhappy San Francisco 49ers star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk this summer.
"I think for the Steelers, I think they're interested, but I think they're interested at their price and I think what (Pittsburgh general manager) Omar Khan is gonna do is he's gonna wait until it gets really uncomfortable for (San Francisco general manager) John Lynch and (head coach) Kyle Shanahan," Fittipaldo said about the Aiyuk situation, according to Josh Carney of Steelers Depot. "And if you've noticed, Aiyuk is kind of starting to make it uncomfortable for the 49ers."
The Steelers were first linked with Aiyuk earlier this spring before San Francisco made wide receiver Ricky Pearsall the 31st pick of this year's draft and before Aiyuk interestingly said in a video that went viral on Monday that "they don't want me back."
Multiple NFL insiders have since insisted the 49ers want to hold onto Aiyuk, who is in the final year of his rookie contract, but the two sides seemingly aren't close to signing an extension.
Pittsburgh, meanwhile, has a need at the position but would have to give Aiyuk a lucrative deal to make trading for his services ahead of the upcoming season a worthwhile transaction. It's unclear what the 49ers would want in return for Aiyuk or if the Steelers would match his asking price.
"As the season gets closer, I think the 49ers might have a little bit more urgency in moving him," Fittipaldo added about Aiyuk. "...It's been out there since March. We've known this has been a thing since March, and I think if it's gonna happen, probably not gonna happen in June. I think it'll happen probably closer to training camp or the start of the season."
Fittipaldo's final point is interesting but also seems to ignore that a 49ers franchise looking to make a second straight trip to a Super Bowl has a history of getting deals done with players during preseasons and even as late as days before a Week 1 game.
With that said, it remains to be seen how "uncomfortable" Aiyuk is willing to make things for Lynch and Co. over the next two months in an attempt to receive the type of extension he desires.
