Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
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The San Francisco 49ers’ contract situation with wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and tackle Trent Williams has been a hot topic of discussion. Whenever head coach Kyle Shanahan or general manager John Lynch speak to the media, they undoubtedly expect questions about their two star players – one holding back, the other holding back.
Williams did not show up for training camp and is hoping for a new contract that will likely include more guaranteed salary since there are no guarantees for the remaining years of his current contract.
Aiyuk is set to make $14.124 million in 2024 with a fifth-year option, but wants to be one of the NFL’s highest-paid receivers. While he’d prefer to do that with the 49ers, he’s open to doing so with another team — possibly the Pittsburgh Steelers — if he’s traded. He reported to training camp but hasn’t participated in practices or preseason games.
“I’d love to do good radio, but unfortunately, folks, I think Kyle said it yesterday, there’s really not a lot of news,” Lynch said Thursday morning on Bay Area radio station KNBR. “I can tell you we continue to be in touch. There’s just nothing to report. I’m going to leave it at that and keep working on it.”
“And the same goes for Trent Williams. There’s no news there. Good communication with the players and their representatives, but there just haven’t been any breakthroughs. So we’ll leave it at that and focus on the other 90 guys who are here and doing really great things on the field.”
When asked if the 49ers would be willing to force Aiyuk to play with the option for a fifth year, Lynch replied, “I’m not going to get into all the specifics. I think we live in a delicate time where anything that is said can be verified and so on. So we’re going to leave it at that. No updates and keep working.”
“I know the fans can’t wait and the season is just around the corner. I can tell everyone: we feel the urgency to get all of our players back. We’re very excited about our team and these two guys have been a huge part of us, a huge part of our success, so we would love to have them both back in our ranks.”
When asked if there was a deadline by which a contract with the two star players had to be signed, Lynch replied: “Last month.”
With the first week of the regular season just around the corner, the 49ers can’t wait to have Aiyuk and Williams on the field at Levi’s Stadium when they face the New York Jets on Monday, Sept. 9. Lynch was asked if her availability for that game is in question.
“We’re not there yet, but we’re getting there,” Lynch replied. “I mean, it’s right around the corner. So we’re going to continue to try to work things out and we’ll see where these things go.”
Lynch concluded by saying: “Everyone knows when kick-off is and we have a good feeling about our team. I’ve said that many times. We would like to have them both in our ranks, but we like our group and I’ll leave it at that.”
You can listen to the entire conversation with Lynch below.
San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch spoke with Bay Area radio station KNBR on Friday morning, where he was asked about the most pressing issue of the offseason – the contract status of star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. Aiyuk and the 49ers are in a lengthy…
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke to reporters before practice Tuesday, likely anticipating questions about the status of wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and left tackle Trent Williams – a common topic when Shanahan addresses the media. While…
The San Francisco 49ers insist that the contract situations of wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and tackle Trent Williams are independent of each other. However, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler believes one affects the other. Aiyuk is aiming to become one of the highest-paid players in the NFL…
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan had “zero news” to reporters about the conflict with wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, but NFL insider Jordan Schultz gave a little more insight. Schultz reports that talks between the 49ers and Aiyuk “continue…”
