(Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
The San Francisco 49ers and Brandon Aiyuk have officially reached an impasse.
Aiyuk has been quite active on social media since their loss in the Super Bowl, and he’s made it loud and clear that he’s not happy with his contract.
If anything, he’s deliberately tried to make this situation as uncomfortable as possible.
That’s why, now that he’s finally formally requested a trade, NFL analyst Mark Willard has called him out.
Talking on 95.7 The Game, Willard criticized Aiyuk for the approach he’s taken and his agent for giving him this kind of advice.
“I’m annoyed with the way [Brandon Aiyuk] is playing this and I’m especially bothered his agent is giving him this advice. He has no juice here. None. All he can do is make it messy,” Willard said.
“I’m annoyed with the way [Brandon Aiyuk] is playing this and I’m especially bothered his agent is giving him this advice. He has no juice here. None. All he can do is make it messy.”
– @Mark_T_Willard on Aiyuk’s trade request (via @WillardAndDibs).
https://t.co/uQbQbW2Rfi pic.twitter.com/Rc4OAJwZSY
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) July 17, 2024
Willard believes Aiyuk has no leverage in this situation, and he might be right.
The Niners still have his rights, so he can either play or not get his money; it’s literally as simple as that.
The Niners are under absolutely no obligation to rework his deal if they don’t feel like doing it.
On top of that, he cannot afford to play poorly, as he’s entering a potential contract year and needs to produce to drive his market value up, not down.
Aiyuk is an elite route-runner coming off a great season, but it seems like he’s asking for more money than he’s proved to be worthy of at this point in his career, and it’ll be interesting to see how this situation turns out.
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