Brandon Aiyuk’s agent discredits report that 49ers star receiver requested a trade

Brandon Aiyuk’s agent poured water on a report that the Niners wideout had requested a trade.

The San Francisco 49ers and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk’s contract standoff does not seem to be approaching a conclusion, and likely won’t until the second day of this year’s draft. However, it seems that Aiyuk’s camp has opted to forego requesting a trade, a common leverage play at this point in negotiations.

While self-proclaimed NY Sports Insider John Frascella reported that Aiyuk had officially requested a trade on Sunday morning (noting the Ravens, Steelers, and a mystery team as the most aggressive teams in trade talks), Aiyuk’s agent, Ryan Williams, took to Twitter to directly refute the claim. “You need better sources,” Williams responded.

There is still time for Aiyuk and his team to request a trade from the 49ers, but making a public rebuttal of a report would suggest that seems unlikely. Even if he had requested a trade, however, the Niners showed last offseason in negotiations with wide receiver Deebo Samuel that they were not swayed by a trade request.

Contentious contract negotiations are a particularly fruitful space for nefarious actors to claim sourced information without proper checks in place. Teams are always extremely hesitant to discuss ongoing negotiations, and the 49ers have historically been particularly tight-lipped regarding significant moves. So, they are unlikely to publicly discredit any reports.

As Tim Kawakami of The Athletic tweeted following Williams’ response, “This is going to be a hilarious — and potentially educational — next 10 days in NFL wild-ass guessing leading up to the draft.”

Aiyuk is heading into his fifth NFL season, and the final on his rookie-scale contract. If he does not sign a new contract before the end of next season, Aiyuk can only be forced to stay with his current team via the franchise tag. Coming off his second-consecutive 1,000-yard season and the most productive campaign of his career, it’s easy to see why he believes he’s in a strong position to cash in.

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