Rumors have swirled regarding the situation between the San Francisco 49ers and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who is entering his fifth NFL season and is slated to earn $14.124 million on a team-executed fifth-year option. Despite the 49ers publicly declaring a desire to sign Aiyuk to a contract extension, keeping him on the roster for the foreseeable future, many rumors have focused on potential trade interest.
On Monday, general manager John Lynch held his annual pre-draft press conference, addressing the Aiyuk situation without revealing any information on the conversations that have taken place behind closed doors. Once again, he emphasized that the 49ers want Aiyuk to remain with the team for the remainder of his career.
When asked if there was a chance Aiyuk might not be on the 49ers roster come Friday morning, after the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft is in the books, Lynch responded, "I wouldn't anticipate that."
Lynch wanted to clarify that nothing has changed since he stated that signing Aiyuk to a contract extension is the priority. It would likely take a significant offer to convince the 49ers to part ways with the ascending player.
"I've communicated on a couple of occasions, on many occasions, our wish," Lynch said. "And our wish is that he's here and a part of the Niners for the rest of his career. We're working through that."
Aiyuk is currently away from his teammates, most of whom are in Santa Clara. The 49ers kicked off their offseason program last week, but everything until the mandatory minicamp in early June is voluntary.
Lynch added that the two sides are having "good talks" and wanted to leave it at that. However, that didn't prevent further questions about the star receiver from being asked.
Addressing the reports that the 49ers have received calls from teams interested in Aiyuk, Lynch responded, "Yeah, sure. We receive calls about a lot of players."
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk recently suggested that the 49ers might have given Aiyuk's representatives permission to gauge interest around the league. Lynch didn't want to comment on that report, simply stating, "I'm not going to get into all those details. We're really focused on B.A. being part of us. He's under contract, and we're looking forward to that."
The 49ers typically finalize their bigger contract extensions closer to training camp. Last year, defensive end Nick Bosa's deal wasn't finalized until just days before the start of the regular season. That provided a valuable lesson to Lynch and his staff.
"Human nature is that deadlines force these things," Lynch said. "But I think you can always learn from situations, and you'd be a fool not to. I'd like to have our business tidied up [earlier]. Those things, they ran the course they needed to, and I'm proud of our record of getting the guys we want to get done, done. But I'm right there with everyone else. I'd sure like it to happen sooner."