Winners and losers of the Brandon Aiyuk contract extension
After all of that … Brandon Aiyuk will remain with the San Francisco 49ers for the long haul.
Following several months of tense negotiations – which included trade talks with other teams – and some mixed messages, the budding fifth-year wide receiver agreed to a four-year deal Thursday evening worth up to $120 million ($76 million guaranteed), per multiple reports. Thus ends one of the stranger NFL contractual standoffs in recent years.
But make no mistake, all this sound and fury will signify major ramifications in Silicon Valley (and elsewhere) at some point. The following parties seem most likely to benefit and, perhaps, be adversely affected by Aiyuk’s new arrangement:
WINNERS
Brandon Aiyuk
Duh. He’s coming off his best season (75 receptions for 1,342 yards and 7 TDs), yet has never been a first-team All-Pro, Pro Bowler or even the main threat in the Niners’ robust offensive attack. Nevertheless, Aiyuk becomes the sixth wideout (joining A.J. Brown, Tyreek Hill, Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb and Amon-Ra St. Brown) with an extension averaging $30-plus million annually – all of them signed this offseason.
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Brock Purdy
After Mr. Irrelevant’s stunning breakout as a rookie in 2022, he took another huge step by developing into a Pro Bowler in 2023 – Aiyuk a major factor in Purdy’s growth. In 20 regular-season games played together after Purdy became San Francisco's QB1 in Week 13 of the 2022 season, the duo has 94 connections for 1,634 yards and nine scores – Aiyuk clearly overtaking fellow WR Deebo Samuel as the primary pass catcher last season. Now Purdy, who’s in line for his own financial windfall some time next year, has his deep threat back as he tries to take this team back to the Super Bowl while making his own on-field negotiating statement.
John Lynch
Whether it’s Aiyuk or Samuel or DE Nick Bosa or TE George Kittle or LB Fred Warner, Lynch, San Francisco’s eighth-year general manager, continues to burnish his reputation for getting his stars under contract – typically in the summer, if often right under the Week 1 wire.
Tee Higgins
From a statistical and deployment perspective, his résumé is fairly similar to that of Aiyuk (269 career catches for 3,931 yards and 25 TDs in four seasons). Higgins has 257 grabs for 3,684 yards and 24 TDs over the same period despite often being perhaps the third option in the Cincinnati Bengals’ offense himself. But saddled with a $21.8 million franchise tag for this season, there’s little question deals like Aiyuk’s are likely to make Higgins a very rich man in 2025 – maybe more so than his 2020 draft mate – when he’ll almost certainly vacate Cincinnati for the free agent market.
2024 49ers
Since the start of the 2019 campaign, San Francisco has reached two Super Bowls – both gut-wrenching losses to the Kansas City Chiefs – and four NFC title games. The Niners seem as close as ever to that long-awaited sixth Lombardi Trophy after falling in overtime of Super Bowl 58 six months ago now that they’ve retained one of their most dangerous weapons in what could be a “Last Dance” kind of situation given they’re likely to lose some key pieces in 2025 when it’s time to pay Purdy.
Trent Williams
While Aiyuk reported to training camp, if not to practice (or collect fines), the 49ers’ perennial All-Pro left tackle has been holding out while seeking an adjustment to his own salary at a time when the positional pay scale has escalated in the wake of new contracts signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Tristan Wirfs, Detroit Lions’ Penei Sewell and Minnesota Vikings’ Christian Darrisaw. With Aiyuk’s business concluded, time for Lynch to refocus in order to pull one more rabbit out of his salary-cap cap if he’s to get, arguably, his team’s best player back in the fold in time for the "Monday Night Football" opener against the New York Jets on Sept. 9.
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LOSERS
Trent Williams
He’s got three years remaining on a pact that's out of guarantees and averages slightly more than $23 million per season, which slots Williams, widely regarded as the league’s premier tackle, sixth at his position. However he's 36, will need time to get into football shape and has seemingly been on the backburner when so much focus has been devoted to Aiyuk. But make no mistake, the 49ers – Purdy and RB Christian McCaffrey, specifically – have shown to be a fundamentally different offense when “Silverback” isn't part of it.
2024 NFC contenders
Just when it seemed like the conference’s preeminent power might be buckling amid its personnel crises, those matters continue to resolve. Not to say the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers can’t still knock off the Niners – as both very nearly did in the 2023 postseason – who could also face challenges from the Philadelphia Eagles, Atlanta Falcons, Los Angeles Rams and potentially others in 2024. But assuming Williams gets mollified and S Talanoa Hufanga and LB Dre Greenlaw reclaim something close to their peak forms once they’re back from injuries … well, San Francisco should remain very tough to derail.
Ja'Marr Chase
Higgins’ teammate with the Bengals, Chase is also striving to rocket past that now-established $30 million per year threshold reserved for elite wideouts. However unlike Aiyuk, Lamb and Jefferson, who all had one year left on their rookie deals, Chase, the No. 5 overall pick in 2021, has two remaining on his and a team owner (Mike Brown) known for taking a hard line on such matters. As Chase’s practice status becomes a daily story in Cincinnati, this now appears to be the fiscal showdown to monitor.
Russell Wilson and Justin Fields
The Pittsburgh Steelers' current and future QB1s, respectively – book it in Fields’ case – they won’t be welcoming Aiyuk to a passing attack that really could’ve used some juice beyond WR George Pickens. The Steel City was Aiyuk’s preferred destination had a compromise not materialized in the Bay Area, but now the Steelers are left to feel like little more than the leverage ploy they ultimately were.
Deebo Samuel
With Aiyuk’s bag coming in, Samuel is officially WR2 here – his bank account included given his extension averages $23.85 million before expiring in the spring of 2026. How’s that gonna play moving forward? Could Samuel even be a roster casualty next spring, when it’s time to mint Purdy and given this year’s first-round investment in Ricky Pearsall, also a receiver (albeit different in style from Samuel)? Stay very closely tuned.
***Follow USA TODAY Sports' Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.