San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk has admitted his frustration over the lack of progress when it comes to his contract negotiations as he deemed the team's front office chiefs "disrespectful".
The 26-year-old caught 75 passes for 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns in an impressive season on a personal level en route to the 49ers reaching the Super Bowl . However, they eventually fell to defeat against the Kansas City Chiefs in the showpiece in Las Vegas, as the receiver tallied up three catches on six targets for 49 yards.
Since then, the ace has been embroiled in a stand-off with his employers as negotiations over a major new contract extension rumble on between both parties, however. Aiyuk is hoping for fresh terms to match NFL positional peers Jaylen Waddle and Amon-Ra St. Brown on the San Francisco payroll but an agreement has not been forthcoming yet.
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Set to enter into the fifth and final year of his rookie contract with the 49ers , he will count $14.124 million against the team's salary cap in 2024. Providing the inside track on the state of play between both camps, Aiyuk has now told The Pivot Podcast : "It's a little bit frustrating. Especially when we’re getting down to details like that.
"Like, we’re putting down exact numbers in negotiation, where that’s talks between the team and my team. And we’re trying to work through things, work through a lot of things. So, for actual numbers and actual stuff like that to come out, I felt it was a little bit disrespectful, a little bit unfair to me, but that’s part of it. That’s part of it. It is what it is."
He then admitted: "It’s a dirty game. It’s a dirty game. So I just feel like for me, social media is a way for myself to leverage me and my team, to leverage myself and to leverage what I’m trying to get, because that’s the way to get the message out there. That’s the way to get the facts out there. And the facts are the facts."
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Immediately after the 49ers' loss against the Chiefs in the Super Bowl in February, the unsettled star remained coy over his future in San Francisco as he addressed his future. Asked whether he was staying with the 49ers, he said: "If that's the right move, yeah," while revealing what would convince him to remain with the team, adding: "Being a champion."
Following on from this, his partner Rochelle Searight, took to TikTok as she appeared to claim that her boyfriend had potentially played his last game for the team. Speaking on the video, she said: "This might have been the last day we touched foot on Levi’s Stadium because we might not be out here next season."
Niners general manager John Lynch addressed speculation over the player's future too in the wake of the Super Bowl defeat, adding: "Of course you want a guy like Brandon Aiyuk to be a part of you moving forward. We’re extremely prideful in what he’s become and he should be as well."
"The more good players you get, the tougher decisions you have. Brandon’s been a fantastic player for us, Kyle [Shanahan] calls him a warrior all the time because of the way he goes out and competes. That shines through anybody whether you’re a trained or whether you’re a fan. You can see the passion that he plays with."
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