The defending NFC champion San Francisco 49ers remain one of the NFL’s top Super Bowl contenders, currently the co-favorites with the Kansas City Chiefs to win Super Bowl LIX. The 49ers are loaded on offense and defense, though the team’s top story of the offseason has revolved around star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk’s desire to be traded if they don’t give him a lucrative contract extension.
“They’ve got to figure out these contractual-trade questions with their wide receivers,” said a rival NFL scout under the condition of anonymity. “Brandon Aiyuk isn’t posturing. He’s legitimately unhappy.”
These anonymous comments were made as part of the exclusive 49ers scouting report in the Athlon Sports 2024 Preview magazine , which is now available on newsstands.
With 2,357 receiving yards and 15 TD grabs over the last two seasons, Aiyuk has emerged as one of the league’s best receivers, forming a dynamic duo with versatile home-run threat Deebo Samuel. Like Aiyuk, Samuel has also been the subject of offseason trade rumors, with the notion that the 49ers will have difficulty paying all their offensive weapons.
“Samuel has handled the trade rumors pretty well,” the scout said. “When you draft and develop players, these things happen as far as guys you have to make tough calls on if you’re going to pay them or not.”
The 49ers did give running back Christian McCaffrey a record-setting contract extension this offseason after the dual-threat running back amassed 2,023 all-purpose yards and 21 total touchdowns last season. In June, he signed a two-year extension worth $38 million.
“He’s worth every penny,” the scout said.
Meanwhile, the 49ers have the luxury of not having to pay quarterback Brock Purdy too much money until his rookie deal ends after two more seasons. Still, Purdy has played like a veteran in head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense.
“Brock Purdy keeps getting better,” the scout said. “You can call him a system quarterback or whatever, but he’s much more than that. He’s a sound quarterback in every phase.”
In addition to Aiyuk and Samuel, Purdy’s also got one of the best tight ends on the NFL at his disposal. George Kittle had his first 1,000-yard season since 2019 last year, and he mixes in excellent run blocking.
And if that wasn’t enough, this scout believes the 49ers have another secret weapon at a position that few teams in the league still use.
“Haven’t seen a fullback in a long time that’s as good at catching passes as Kyle Juszczyk,” the scout said.
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