Tim Kawakami: Aiyuk future 'up in the air' before NFL Draft

The San Francisco 49ers are slated to draft 31st overall Thursday night, in the first round of the NFL Draft. As it stands, the 49ers are making it very clear that they're open to trade offers for Brandon Aiyuk.

With that in mind, Tim Kawakami of The Athletic joined Willard and Dibs on Wednesday. He was asked where the Aiyuk situation stands, and more importantly, will he be on the roster after this weekend?

"I would guess he is," Kawakami said. "But like everyone else, including the 49ers and Brandon Aiyuk, you don't know. I've been told it's up in the air and I'm not going to make a guess. It's hard to put these trades together."

Kawakami said he thinks that the 49ers were closer to trading Deebo Samuel two years ago than they are to trading Aiyuk now, but there's no certainty Aiyuk will remain on the team.

"I think they came pretty close to trading Deebo two years ago and they didn't," Kawakami sais. "In fact, I would say they probably were more willing to trade Deebo Samuel two years ago after a monster season, one of Kyle Shanahan's better players, than they are now with Aiyuk, although the more you listen, the more you [think] maybe they are pretty close, or at least willing to talk on Aiyuk...

"Maybe it's a staredown. Maybe it's a game of chicken. But you know what? Games of chicken sometimes end up in crashes. So I'm gonna wait. It's gonna be very dramatic. I guess there's a potential they could even do it the next day for a second-round pick. I think that would be silly. I think Brandon Aiyuk, if you're going to trade him you got to get a really good first-round pick and get a receiver that you know can plug right in there because if they trade him for a second-round pick, boy, I think they really take a step backwards in this quest to win a Super Bowl."

Kawakami went on to discuss the future if the 49ers extend Aiyuk, and how it's possible, if not likely, that the 49ers would move on from Samuel next offseason if Aiyuk is extended. Listen to the full episode above.