‘There is a jackpot at the end of the rainbow’ Fox NFL star Julian Edelman tells Brandon Aiyuk after contract drama

THREE-TIME former Super Bowl champion Julian Edelman has urged Brandon Aiyuk to stay with the San Francisco 49ers.

Aiyuk , 26, has one year remaining on his contract and has been heavily linked with being traded.

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The 49ers reportedly fielded calls for their wide receiver earlier in the summer, before they decided that they want him to stay.

Aiyuk has attended practices with the Niners during training camp, with their season opener now just three weeks away, but is not participating in them.

With Aiyuk’s future still uncertain, Fox analyst Edelman was asked if he believes he will still be a San Francisco 49er when their season gets underway against the New York Jets on September 9.

“If I was Brandon Aiyuk, I would be at San Francisco week one,” the 38-year-old said live on Fox .

“Usually a team goes out and wins the Super Bowl and everyone tries to get paid.

“They haven’t won a Super Bowl yet, but everyone is trying to get paid.

“So if they can have the mental toughness, which means having the ability do what’s best for the team when it’s not necessarily best for you…

“I’m just telling you, there is a jackpot at the end of the rainbow that is a huge payday if they go out and get it done.”

San Francisco reached last season’s Super Bowl, before falling 25-22 to the Kansas City Chiefs in Las Vegas.

Last Friday, Niners GM John Lynch admitted that he is keen to keep Aiyuk for the upcoming season.

“You know, I’m not going to characterize any chances or anything,” he said while appearing on KNBR . “I can tell you this, it’s been a long, arduous, hard process, a hard journey.

“We started this early and for whatever reason haven’t been able to get it across the finish line. That’s been frustrating, but the communication still has been really good both with Brandon and his agent, and we’re trying to figure out solutions.

“You know I’m always hopeful. I’m an optimistic person in nature, and I’m always hopeful that we’ll get there and get there soon.

“I can tell you, we feel the urgency to have him, the season’s approaching, and we have ample time.

‘WE’RE WORKING HARD’

“The good news is Brandon is a really, really hard worker, he’s taking great care of himself this offseason, he’s in fantastic shape, but there’s things you have to do on a football field and getting yourself in there with our team.

“So we’re working hard, and hopefully there’s a resolution soon. That’s all I can share with everyone, I understand the angst of everyone, I understand there’s been all kinds of stories and talk, that’s what people do these days.

“I don’t like that part of it, but we love BA as a player, I think you see it every time he goes out there representing the Niners, he’s a guy we traded up for in the first round back in the ’20 draft.

“I remember doing it from my guest house during the Covid times, and we’re fortunate to have added him to our squad, and we’d really like to keep him around. So we’ll see how it goes.”

Lynch, 52, went on to claim that there is no “bad blood” between the Niners and Aiyuk.

However, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport , they have agreed on the “framework” of a trade that would send Aiyuk to the Pittsburgh Steelers if they fail to agree on a contract extension.