Aiyuk admits he could’ve made 49ers contract talks easier

SANTA CLARA — Now that the dust has settled between the 49ers and Brandon Aiyuk, the wide receiver admitted he could have made the contract negotiation process a wee bit easier for the team. "I'm not going to lie, I made it a little more difficult than I needed to at the end," Aiyuk said Tuesday with a little laugh. "It was like — I'm not going to say the entire time, but for about the past month I think we were pretty good." From the outside, it appeared to be a long and tumultuous standoff between Aiyuk and the 49ers that began shortly after the 2023 NFL season ended. The Arizona State product remained away from the facility until the start of training camp but never stepped onto the field with his teammates, effectively "holding in." Then the situation came to what appeared to be a tipping point for both general manager/president of football operations John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan one week ago, when Lynch simply stated, "At some point, you got to play." Shortly thereafter, Aiyuk finally came to the table and agreed to a four-year, $120 million contract extension that will keep him with San Francisco through the 2028 season. Approximately $76 million of the Second Team...