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As the San Francisco 49ers search for a resolution for wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, head coach Kyle Shanahan discussed his perspective on the situation.
Shanahan expressed that he wants things to work out between the two sides, but understands the situation is complicated.
“In a perfect world, you’d love [for Aiyuk and the 49ers to work out a deal],” Shanahan said, per 49erswebzone.com (h/t Pro Football Talk’s Charean Williams). “But there’s a lot of sides to it. There’s us, what we want. It’s [also] what he wants. There’s a whole contract and stuff to that. It’s the tough business part of this league, and some years it can be harder than others. This is a very difficult one, but it’s something you’re always holding out hope for.”
Should he remain with the 49ers, Aiyuk will play on the fifth year of his rookie contract and will earn $14.124 million. He’s currently holding in, attending team events but not participating while waiting for either a new contract or a trade.
Whatever the 49ers decide to do, Shanahan is hoping the situation is resolved soon.
“I hope it is sooner than later, but right right now, I don’t have any expectations,” Shanahan said. “That’s kind of how I stay sane and focus on being a good coach for our team. If I sit there, and come in every morning, and expect something to happen, and sitting there just waiting on and thinking about it, that’s when I won’t do my job the right way as a head coach of this team.
“So I hope it does. Man, that would be awesome to wake up one day and know we have this solved. But I try to come in each day, and unless there’s something relevant or something that has happened that I got to be a part of and really discuss, which doesn’t happen very much right now, then I’m trying to keep it in back in my mind, kind of out of it, and just focus on the players that are here right now.”
Earlier this week, NBC Sports’ Matt Maiocco reported that the 49ers have the framework for trades that would send Aiyuk to either the Cleveland Browns or New England Patriots, though the Patriots are now reportedly out of the mix, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
A trade seems more likely than the 49ers finding a deal for Aiyuk, but the question is how San Francisco will get that trade done.
