49ers, superstar receiver close on deal: 'A couple little hurdles,' says insider

Could the San Francisco 49ers' offense finally be whole once more? It seems to be getting closer to reality.

After an NFC championship and a heartbreaking loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl, the second time head coach Kyle Shanahan has lost the big one to the Chiefs in five years, San Francisco is out for redemption. But not all of their star players are on board yet.

All offseason, San Francisco and star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk have been at an impasse in regards to the fifth-year wideout's future. Trade speculation has remained a constant, but so has the notion that eventually, all this would subside and Aiyuk would return to the 49ers.

According to a report from NFL insider James Palmer, the 49ers and Aiyuk are "right there" in the final steps of working out the long-awaited extension.

"There are just a couple little hurdles there that they're kind of going back and forth," Palmer said. "It could get done with him going back to San Francisco, which is what, throughout the duration of this, we've all thought has been kind of the most likely outcome."

Aiyuk, 26, is an essential ingredient to the 49ers' pursuit of a championship, which has eluded the organization since the dynasty days of Joe Montana and Steve Young. Last season, he set a career-high with 1,342 receiving yards and was named second-team All-Pro.

Aiyuk has reportedly been seeking an extension in the range of $28-30 million per season, which is roughly double what he is making this year, after the 49ers picked up his fifth-year option at $14.25 million.

If Aiyuk and the 49ers can't work out the finer details of the contract, the possibility always remains that he could be traded, either before the season starts or midseason, pre-trade deadline. But the longer he continues to sit out of football activities, the less likely he'll be ready to go for Week 1.

Perhaps Palmer's report means the saga is finally approaching its long-awaited conclusion. But it seems we've been locked in a holding pattern for weeks on end, so it's hard to accept anything is happening until there's ink on paper.

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