Last offseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers reportedly had a deal on the table that would bring San Francisco 49ers star receiver Brandon Aiyuk to Pittsburgh. However, general manager John Lynch pulled the rug out from under the Steelers when the Broncos couldn't get on board with a potential three-way trade.
Now the Steelers may have a shot at redemption.
According to Grant Cohn of Sports Illustrated, Lynch could be willing to move on from Aiyuk. When asked if the team had called bout a potential trade, Lynch said no... but he didn't shut down the idea.
"I think there's some good that can come out of that," Lynch told the media regarding listening to trade offers. "We need to get younger. I think we're the oldest team in football after trying to make a run last year. I think it's good to constantly get younger. Our draft class last year was a great move toward that. We'll have four picks in the top 100. If the comp picks happen like we see it, we'll have 10 picks overall. We're excited about adding more youth to the great core of players we already have."
Lynch also admitted that the 49ers have one of the oldest rosters and pointed out that the team is No. 2 in the NFL in cash spending. Aiyuk's contract is one of the biggest reasons why.
To cover their bases, the 49ers handed Aiyuk a rich new four-year, $120 million contract extension during the 2024 offseason. This set his new annual earnings at $30 million per season—tying him for third in the NFL.
Unfortunately for San Francisco, this decision has hardly paid dividends. Just seven games into the 2024 season, Aiyuk suffered a season-ending ACL injury. During those seven games, the high-paid receiver caught just 25 passes on 47 targets for 374 yards and failed to record a touchdown.
Pittsburgh Steelers could poach Brandon Aiyuk from the San Francisco 49ers on a discount trade
Last year, the Steelers were reportedly willing to part with a first-round pick and change to land Brandon Aiyuk. Just one year later, the price tag could be cheaper.
Aiyuk is now a year older and is still rehabbing from a season-ending knee injury. Additionally, the $120 million receiver is coming off a seven-game sample in which he averaged 3.5 catches and 53.4 receiving yards per game—hardly the production you'd like to see from one of the league's most expensive receivers.
Now, for reasons John Lynch pointed out, the 49ers could already be looking for a way out. But this won't come without some finagling. If San Francisco traded Aiyuk before June 1, they would be forced to eat $18.4 million in dead money and lose over $7.65 million in salary cap space, per Over the Cap. However, a post-June 1 designated trade would result in a minimal dead money hit and nearly $6.15 million in cap savings.
If the San Francisco 49ers are really exploring trade options, the Pittsburgh Steelers could answer. Aiyuk is the wide receiver they've wanted all along. Now that his current team has already paid out $23 million in prorated signing bonuses, the cap numbers the Steelers would have to take on would be more than reasonable.
Even if the 49ers are seeking similar draft compensation in return (a first-round pick), Omar Khan and the Steelers wouldn't have to deal with the headache of trying to figure out the contract details and guaranteed money involved.
It seems odd to trade away one of the league's highest-paid receivers after giving him a new contract, but if the Niners are willing to do it, the Steelers should be on the phone.