The 49ers have negotiated the framework of trades that would send wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk to the
Cleveland Browns or the New England Patriots, a league source told NBC Sports Bay Area on Monday night.
Now it’s up to Aiyuk to determine if he will accept the contract terms from either of those franchises, the source said.
The 49ers gave permission to Aiyuk to negotiate potential contracts with the
Browns, Patriots, Washington Commanders and Pittsburgh Steelers, the source said.
The Browns are out, even though they wanted to be in. The problem was that Aiyuk didn’t want to be in Cleveland.
Via Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area, Aiyuk put the kibosh on a deal that would have sent Aiyuk to the Browns for receiver Amari Cooper, a second-round pick, and a fifth-round pick.
At the risk of sparking a Boston-style X party, this leak has the 49ers’ fingerprints all over it. There’s no reason for the Browns to make it known they were on the verge of moving Cooper. And there’s no reason for Aiyuk to tell the world he didn’t want to play for the Browns, if he still might play for another team in the AFC North.
This feels like an effort to paint Aiyuk as unreasonable, as the one who prevented a resolution to the situation. If that’s the case, does that make it more likely or less likely that Aiyuk will do a deal to stay with the 49ers?
Regardless, it’s stay put or head to the Steel City. We’ll continue to wait for the puff of the appropriate-colored smoke to emerge from the corresponding chimney.
