Report: Aiyuk wants adjustment in final year of 49ers contract offer originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
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The final hurdle Brandon Aiyuk and the 49ers must clear before accepting a lucrative contract extension appears to be the final, non-guaranteed year of the potential deal.
NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo reported Friday that Aiyuk and the 49ers are on the same page regarding the first three years of the proposed contract, but the star wants a modification to a non-guaranteed fourth year.
“The 49ers feel like they’ve given up enough and given up more than they wanted to,” Garafolo told Puck Sports host Jason “Puck” Puckett” on Friday’s weekly “Mike Garafolo Show” (h/t Steelers Depot). “They’re up significantly from their offer in the spring. My reporting has them pretty much agreeing to terms in the first three years of the deal, which is usually the toughest part. That’s the guarantee, the cash flow, the APY over the first couple of years, averaged out per year and Aiyuk just wanting … an adjustment in the last year of the deal, which is not guaranteed.
“That year was never guaranteed and we saw a lot of wide receivers and agents put up big money last year to inflate the average per year. It doesn’t sound like that’s exactly what they want, there’s more of a need for a meaningful adjustment to that year, but still not guaranteed and something the 49ers can walk away from. That’s where the impasse is right now. I’ve called it uncomfortable and contentious at times. I think it still is, but it’s almost done. That’s why the 49ers have said, ‘We’re not going to make a move and trade him away because we feel like we can still get this deal done.'”
Garafolo reported Tuesday that Aiyuk and the 49ers had contract offers within range of each other and that the 26-year-old wideout was waiting for San Francisco to make a decision on a final pick.
Based on Garafolo’s latest report on Friday, the obstacle standing in the way of the 49ers and Aiyuk reaching an agreement stems from last year.
General Manager John Lynch appeared on KNBR 680 Friday morning and was asked why the contract negotiations with Aiyuk took so long.
“I wish I knew,” Lynch said on KNBR’s “Murph & Markus” show. “I wish I knew.”
Lynch also made it clear that both sides are trying to find a solution to the situation.
“It’s been a long, arduous, difficult process, a tough journey,” Lynch told Brian Murphy and Markus Boucher. “We started this early and for whatever reason we haven’t been able to get it across the finish line. It’s frustrating. But the communication with Brandon and his agent is still very good and we’re trying to find a solution.
“I’m always hopeful. I’m an optimistic person by nature, and so I always hope that we get there and that we get there quickly. I can tell you that we feel the urgency to have him. The season is coming.”
While the 49ers have reportedly reached a trade deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers to send Aiyuk to the Steel City, it’s clear they’d like to find a solution with the former first-round draft pick to keep him in San Francisco.
If the 49ers and Aiyuk can agree on a proposed contract, the situation could finally be resolved.
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