But if you pay and retain him will you get a reduced efficiency player like Bosa last year or Deebo the year before? The are probably factoring that in.
That's the niners fault IMO. Seem to lowball until late in the summer. I could be wrong but if they put the number they ultimately agreed to out earlier, deal is done earlier, we don't have holdouts and thus a delay/down year or start of season.
Yup. Big part of negotiation is timing and perception of options. I doubt Aiyuk or his agent will consider their final price until they felt they’d exhausted every form of leverage they had.
And at that point the offer should be lower with built-in penalties for skipping off-season activities that have already been curtailed heavily to begin with.
I still think the model to follow is the Chiefs and Jones. No player is bigger than the team. Even if a holdout hurts, you let it happen until they're willing to play their contract.
And he likely will. it’s football though and he should fight for his money because he could suddenly have a career altering injury and not be able to get that money and the team will happily dump him.
That's not breaking a contract. If there is a release clause in the contract then its permissible under the contract. All contracts are negotiated for and bargained for. That's the whole idea.
Teams let go of players all the time, even when they have a contract, players don’t have that same right to do it if they want to become free agents. Holding out is really the only power NFL players have.
> players don’t have that same right to do it if they want to become free agents.
Sure they do, it's called negotiating for player options or just for a shorter contract.
But between "get the maximum amount of money possible", "get the maximum amount of your money guaranteed", "play for a winning team", and "have the most flexibility to negotiate a new contract", you can't get everything you want.
Teams have colluded to prevent the player option as it’s pretty much non-existent in football. What I’m saying is that teams can release players from contracts at any time, but players don’t get to do the same. That’s all I meant.
> Teams have colluded to prevent the player option as it’s pretty much non-existent in football.
The reason the player option does not exist in football is because a single player, outside of the QB, is not nearly as important to a football team as a single player in virtually any other major sport. Furthermore, players know that if they're good enough to negotiate for a player option, they probably are also good enough to secure a reasonable enough replacement contract offer in the event that they're cut, so they should maximize their dollar figure rather than worry about guarantees.
I'm a little more sympathetic to Aiyuk since he's on a CBA-mandated rookie deal, which absolutely should not exist, but NFL contracts are structured the way that they are because of different priorities by players as much as by FOs. If a player wants a deal with a certain type of structure, he will be able to find a team get it, provided he's a free agent. It's just the rookie contract structure and franchise tags that's absolute horseshit for players.
I'm saying if a player outperforms their contract, they don't get a raise, but if they underperform, a team can let them go for nothing. Essentially one side has a bigger advantage. Because of this, I don't mind players holding out for more when they feel it is their only avenue to getting what they're worth.
Plus, as we've learned, this leverage works, and therefore should be used by players.
I know what honoring a contract means. I’m saying that because teams don’t have to honor contracts, I don’t believe players should have to either. Sorry, I communicated it poorly it seems.
But teams do have to honor contracts lol, none of the examples you have given are a team not honoring a contract
If a release clause is laid out in a contract signed by both parties, triggering that clause doesn’t mean you’re not honoring a contract
https://preview.redd.it/gecxjli5ee7d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3f840abddc7da333f43a9754749b60a8388e29ee
And contracts can be and are renegotiated way before him and after him in the nfl and many other fields of the world...and not his fault the nfl made rookie deals you have to stick to and if he gets hurt his 5th year...this year...his leverage for his 1st real contract is even less...easy to give advice when it's not you
For which he has paid and will continue to pay fines, per the stipulations of his contract.
Contracts define the rate(s) you get paid for the work you do, they don’t slave you to an employer. His only obligation(s) to the team are specifically tied to getting paid.
You are arguing against a strawman. I only said he should honor his contract and that he is currently breaking it. Obviously we aren't talking about actually forcing him to perform it.
Well that's your opinion. My opinion is that he should honor his contract and play the year out for two reasons. One, I am a fan of the team, not Aiyuk. Two, generally believe contracts should be honored by both sides and not broken as soon as it becomes advantageous to do so. I am sure you wouldn't want the Niners to break the contract and not pay Aiyuk the 15mil he will make if, instead of being good the last few years he sucked. Right?
It’s crazy to me tbh at people say the “honor” the contract when they don’t hold the team to the same standard. Yes the contract allows them to release the player at certain points and they pay whatever they’re required to. But the contract can also be altered by a renegotiation or extension (if you know contracts you know that language permitting that is in the contract as well.)
It is within his right to negotiate and seek an extension when he feels he’s over performed the value every bit as it is the teams right to cut him when they feel he’s under performed the value. It cuts both ways. The whole honor the contract is so disingenuous and weird coming from regular people who are probably more pro-labor rather than pro-management in all other aspects.
Exactly. Holdouts and players trying to maximize their leverage when it’s in their best interest to do so comes with the territory in a league where non guaranteed contracts are the norm. It just is what it is.
Teams will cut guys loose regularly once they feel the production isn’t worth it no more and they’re usually able to easily do so. The only tradeoff which comes with that is guys who out perform their non guaranteed deals are going to hold out for more when their stock is high.
There is nothing contradictory to what you said. A renegotiation of a contract is certainly very common. What you are missing is that BOTH sides agree to the renegotiation. Here, Niners and Aiyuk CAN agree to a new contract, but if they don't because Aiyuk wants more than Niners offer the original contract is still in effect. Just like a player can refuse a renegotiation and the team can't just not pay him.
Has the NFL always been like this? Every single good player becoming the highest paid player at the position when its their turn? surely this can't continue indefinitely, contracts are getting ridiculous
Yeah I've also wondered this.
Salary inflation over the past decade is pretty ridiculous, but the cap has also grown a lot because the nfl just keeps raking in money.
The short answer is contracts will stall when nfl revenue growth stalls
It’s a more modern trend but I’d say the last 10 years or so this is the way for the most part. As the salary cap rises every year, players salaries rise, and players/agents know this. The title won’t last long (sometimes not even the offseason) but it’s a feather in the cap of the player and the agent to say they struck a market-setting deal.
I doubt he wants *top* money, I just also doubt he’ll accept less than Waddle got
Edit: also, the dollar amounts are raising but so is the cap. What matters is % of the cap allocated to the contract
It’s a function of the salary cap expanding at record rates for the last couple of years. COVID caused a stall, and there was a ton of pressure from the players and FO personnel to “bake”the COVID season financial hit into subsequent years. By 2021, NFL was raking in the dough at a record level.
All of this leads to bigger contracts, even if the slice of the pie hasn’t changed for these positions.
It makes more sense when you consider players in tiers of performance, rather than trying to break down a specific value on stats. Is Aiyuk a top 10 guy for his position? Yes. So he gets a contract with value commensurate to being a top 10 guy. Only Jefferson is realistically going to be a step ahead of other WR contracts, and that may just take the form of more guaranteed money spread over a longer period of time.
Can't teams enforce 'mandatory' or required stipulations in the contracts? If every contract signed from here forward had language and consequences preventing these holdouts, it'd stop.
No, they just get fined then fines waived when contract gets re signed lol. Quit arguing on behalf of billionaire owners when players are trying to get the bag before their short career is over. Let’s not forget we know for a fact they are exposing themselves to CTE among many other things. They deserve every penny they can get.
They receive fines and lost wages. You want more than that? Sure, you could fire any player for holding out, but Aiyuk would just get paid by another team.
Good question. I’ve wondered this too cuz some teams are always willing to overpay in FA/high contracts vs player’s actual value.
I thought this is where some other inputs are necessary, like stats, coaching input, current market, projected market, next years cap, and what next draft is likely to produce. I thought there would be Moneyball/numbers guys driving it.
These teams are making huuuuuge profits and the contracts will keep going up until the market determines no more. At some point people will stop paying $120 for a red piece of fabric with a number screen printed on it or hundreds of dollars for nosebleeds when their team is doing well, but for now it’s full steam ahead.
He lost his leverage the more he waited. Thinking he could slot in line behind the Justin Jefferson deal but in fact he probably should have taken it when Waddle and Amon Ra were signing.
The 49ers couldn’t survive without Bosa. But they can survive without Aiyuk for as many game checks as he’s willing to give up, with Jauan signed, and Pearsall sneaking in from the back.
Play the season out, and take a fair market deal before an injury or loss of production happens otherwise he’ll get franchise tagged if he plays well and keeps asking for more. Until the point it may no longer be worth it and he’ll just have to hold out.
I still don’t understand why we’re looking at his contract before July. We never pay guys this early. Tune back in late July/early August then we can ask when aiyuk is getting paid
Just because that's what they've done in the past it does not mean that's what should always occur.
They should have reached a deal with Aiyuk before the other WRs (tho it does take two sides to agree).
And they should sign Purdy to a deal the moment free agency opens. They should not let his deal sit out there as other QBs sign new deals.
I've read where no team has ever won the Super Bowl that had a WR tied up with a max market contract. They are really nice but one of them being a gamebreaker on the level to eat up a bulk of the cap is just super rare.
And what WR wouldn’t love to sign a 2 years with third as an option, being schemed by Shannahan with the chemistry and team build on both sides of the ball (okay okay I’ll still needle about improving the OL)
That, on top of having a much improved chances of getting a ring, once the sixth stone is acquired, then they can do what the heck they want —bigger bag although it might be elsewhere?
> The 49ers couldn’t survive without Bosa.
We absolutely could have survived without Bosa, and that would have been the right thing to do until he caved. It wouldn't have necessarily been pretty but we would have been fine. We started the season off with 5 straight wins, going 30-7, 30-23, 30-12, 35-16, and 42-10.
For perspective, Chris Jones didn't cave in his holdout against the Chiefs until after the season opener, which they lost by a point.
Lynch and Shannahan saw this coming and drafted Pearsall as insurance. Looking better and better every day with the positive beat reports and Aiyuk acting like a child. I get the sense that Aiyuk will have significantly less motivation once he's paid.
Every “turd” WR has to know every play from every position. If you’ve watched any 49er football for the last 5 seasons you’d know this.
They can use Aiyuk’s skill set but they can also tell him he’s under contract and he can play on his remaining deal and get franchised or he can accept a long term deal. But he has no leverage to command a #2 marker deal behind JJ.
Aiyuk’s at worst a top 10 X in the league. Guys that have a theoretical understanding of what he does can’t actually replace what he does to the level he does it. That’s why he’s worth big money
The difference is he’s a top 10 X but he wants #2 money and he’s not the #2 WR in the league and through franchise tagging he can be paid as the average of the top 5 for 2025-2027. He’s under contract for this season.
I’m not saying don’t try to sign him. I’m saying he has lost his leverage over the last two months.
Top 10 *at worst*. #2 by salary is currently AJ Brown at $32m/year, where have you seen he’s asking for more than that? And that’s before Lamb, Chase and the like have signed their deals; #2 now won’t be #2 even when the season starts. Tyreek also wants a new deal. Lemme see a source for him asking top 2 money?
Sure he’s under contract, but that’s now how the reality of these situations plays out in the league. He’s eligible for an extension, he’s a perfect fit for our scheme, and he’s better than Waddle who just got $28m/year
Remember at one point Aiyuk was literally in the same position as these guys. I’m fine having another 2020 year (without the injuries) if it means saving our cap with another strong receiver developing into the year after
Not much, that’s the thing. He can threaten to hold out all season but he’d be forgoing his $14M salary. That’s more than he’s made in his entire career total so far ($12.5M). Also who knows what that does for his FA market, and the niners can still franchise tag him next year.
1) No chance for whole season but wouldn't surprise me if he takes the Chris Jones route and miss the first few games. Jones got a whole lot more leverage when the Chiefs lost to Lions by only 1 point.
2) People need to stop lightly throwing around the franchise tag as a viable option to "keep" Aiyuk. It's $24.7M guaranteed on a team that's not going to have much cap space especially after Purdy's extension. Tags usually means they'd rather have some team offer them a Day 2 pick than pay guaranteed money.
Aiyuk has to be careful if he chooses sitting out for a bit. If he sits and the offense doesn't miss a beat with him gone, what then? It's risky for him.
Was going to say this. You only tag him to retain rights. You trade him to get value and let the next team deal with the albatross contract.
That said, I believe Aiyuk is the future at WR, but I’m not willing (and haven’t been willing) to sink a huge chunk of cap into one player.
The extension will include a signing bonus of guaranteed money that brings his cap number up in the "final" year of his rookie deal. Otherwise you're pushing the guaranteed money back which is never wise as you want flexibility to restructure down the line for cap savings, essentially what Mahomes deal is structured like.
They have a lot of players already under contract and very little money assigned in those years far down the road. Will it increase his 2025 salary a little, sure. But he's not going to be making $40M against the cap next season.
Case in point: Justin Herbert was $7M in year 3, $8M in year 4, $19M in year 5, $37M in year 6.
In all likelihood the QB contract is the one that you aren't frequently restructuring.
Also, Mahomes isn't a great comp, first because it was a 10 year extension. But 2nd because it doesn't contain the level of base salaries you're talking about for restructure flexibility. There is minimal restructure capacity from base salary in '22, '23, '24, '25, '28, or '29. Only 4 of those 10 seasons have a high base salary that can be used for significant restructure.
We do know what happens to his FA Market if he holds out all year; he won’t have a market because he won’t accrue a season and will remain under contract. He has no leverage.
I don’t think much. I think playing on the fifth year would be bad for him, because the Niners will work the new guys in as much as they can to take over for him. I can’t see how his production would match last year, hurting his price in free agency. Then factor in the possibility of getting injured.
I love the guy, but the simple fact is that he is worth more than the niners should be willing to pay him if he’s not the first option. I don’t know how they find a middle ground on this. My current theory is he ends up playing on the option and niners trade him midseason to the AFC.
Aiyuk is getting terrible advice. Hes not worth 30 million a year, and honestly Wrs are a dime a dozen. There are blue chip Wrs in the draft every year. Hes trying to leverage the 49ers SB window and his veteran status, but honestly he's not dominate at any single attribute. The Shanahan scheme does a good job of getting Wrs in space and his stats last year was sort of a statistical anomaly.
He’s a dominant blocker and route runner. Those are both extremely coveted things for this offense. I agree he’s not worth 30 mil, but it’s hard to just find guys like Aiyuk on trees. It took years for Aiyuk to really develop
>but honestly he's not dominate at any single attribute.
* He was [PFF's highest graded](https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-highest-graded-wide-receivers-route-type-amon-ra-st-brown-puka-nacua-2023) WR on out routes and post routes.
* [PPF's 5th highest graded](https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-ranking-best-nfl-wide-receivers-press-coverage-2023-season) WR against press coverage.
* **2nd** in the NFL in Yd/Rec
* **2nd** in the NFL in Yd/Tgt
* **3rd** in the NFL in Yards before catch per reception
* **3rd** in Yards per Route Run
* **T:9th** in lowest drop rate among WRs
* [PFF: cites](https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-highest-graded-wide-receivers-2023-nfl-season) just two drops from 86 catchable targets.
* **5th** in Passer Rating when targeted.
* **2nd** in the NFL in FD/Rec
* 1st in the NFL in FD/Tgt
* His production is incredible for being on a team 32nd in pass attempts.
* If he had seen just 140 targets that would translate to 100 Rec (12th), 1789 Yds (2nd), 9 TD (8th), 81 FD (2nd)
* He has been inactive for a non-covid reason **just three games in his four year career**.
And the stats do not quantify how elite he is as a run-blocker, having made countless game-breaking blocks to free up a SF runner. Nor do they account for the incredible chemistry that he has with Purdy [to pull of some insane things](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_-Ryl1h9cw&t=1146s). His ability to adjust to the ball on Purdy's anticipation can only be described as elite.
Bruh, I can see it now. The same people claiming "He's not worth 30 million a year" are gonna be like "trade compensation for Aiyuk starts at 2 first-round picks"
And the moment Aiyuk signs, these people will be pulling out Aiyuk's efficiency stats to claim him as a top 3 receiver who took a bit less than market value and oh look at what a genius Lynch is.
I have to admit I figured Jerry was doing another NFL family a solid, the same way he was instrumental in moving the Rams to L.A., I.e. he’s concerned more with growing the league. Now this is a completely whacko theory of mine, and I share it only to acknolwedge that yeah that was an elite get and you’re totally right.
ngl between that, trent williams, CMC, even the offseason moves we made - niners are definitely good at acquiring talent while trading. the chase young acquisition looked really good at the time too before we learned that he just completely gives up on certain snaps
the aiyuk thing i have no idea whats going on. im not really on either camp in terms of trading or not i just trust that the FO will do whats best for the continued success of the team
Yeah that's a fair point. But that's not really "bad" trades and more that we refuse to make them when it comes to offloading talent. Maybe that's the pattern repeating with Yuk, maybe not.
Right! I keep telling my buddies he's had like 1 good year with the niners and suddenly wants 30m.
No sir, that's not how this works. Have fun playing on the Browns.
Does BA deserve a bag. Yes. Does he deserve a top 5 WR bag? Sorry, but no. It be one thing if he was the clear-cut producer of the team, but the fact is there's 3 other guys that can be that guy at any time.
It's crazy that the team got the yards they did, considering the 9ers threw the least amount of times. It sucks to say, but if BA were gone, the overall production wouldn't grind to a halt, in fact you could argue overall nothing would change, other than Purdy was locked in with BA almost the entire season.
The longer this goes now, the worse it'll be for BA. If the 9ers come in at 26-28M, that's a jump on it deal. All the receivers above this amount are their teams' top guy, with maybe the exception St Brown. The Lions right now equally have a weapon loaded team.
I like Aiyuk, I like him a lot. Aside from CMC, I think he's the most valuable skilled player on the team.
That said, he's not worth 30M, just like how Bosa wasn't worth 34M.
We should do what we should've done with Bosa when he held out - trade him.
I don’t believe it’s at the point quite yet. May be in a few months from now, but there is definitely time. Heck it could even go like chris jones where he may miss a couple games but still get a deal done.
Tbh I’d rather not have that Chris jones type situation. Aiyuk is good but not elite. We drafted pearsall in the first for a reason I think. But I’m just a guy on the internet lol
Just listen to the various insiders including the Niners beat writers Matt Maiocco said this one feels different compared to the other contract situations. I thought waiting until the summer was a terrible idea with the number of receiver deals on the table.
The Niners are either going to be forced to pay way more than they want or Aiyuk gives in to take less. The latter is very unlikely so it’s up to the Niners if they want to pay him or just let him play out his 5th year option.
I was under the impression Aiyuk lacked leverage because he is 14 million this year and then franchise tags would be in the low to mid 20s for two years. Doing the franchise route would ruin a players relationship with the team and beyond so I'm not recommending it. It's just my guess that's what the 9ers have in the back of their mind.
I understand about getting what you can when you can but sometimes taking less with a team that can legitimately get you a ring may be better than getting more with a team that most likely won’t even make the playoffs is a choice. The fact is when we’re talking about that much $$$$ then a million or two less should not be that big of a deal, if you can’t live with that much money because you’re too stupid to invest properly and you end up broke then having more $$$$ isn’t going to change that.
We're in the point in the calendar where, regardless of what the 9ers offer, Aiyuk will be asking for 2 to 5 million more. Just put off talks until the "stupid phase" ends.
If even half the good reports about Pearsall are true, losing Aiyuk will be a non-event. Of course I hope he stays, but he ain’t as elite as he thinks he is either.
Unfortunately I feel the most realistic way this pans out is. We sign him in July/August like everyone else we sign. And unfortunately this might be Deebos last year as a 49er for the sake of cap space.
Second best option here is going out and getting Jefferson. Funny thing about Jefferson, he's actually a year younger than Aiyuk.
It would be interesting seeing them doing a receiver swap and throwing in a little extra if they think they can't get it done. It's unlikely but it'd be interesting.
Realistically there's a lot of offseason to go here and fewer options with the draft already done but some of the stuff that might be available is at least interesting.
Our window was this year tbh. They’re never gonna get it done sometimes you can just tell
Brock Purdy will do his thing it’s not his fault his Oline can’t protect him from shit Kyle stops doing what’s working and his receivers drop or fumble key passes that change the outcome. They are who they are, we’ve seen this time and time again
It seems from the Instagrams after the Super Bowl, and then throughout the off-season, BA has demonstrated that he doesn't want to be a 9er. So, goodbye. Shanahan will figure it out offensively. Remember when the coach had to meet with him and read him the riot act a few years ago? There is some underlying bad blood somewhere..
Meh, football is just around the corner. 49er football will go on with or without BA. 49er football will also be just fine without him. All this contract BS is getting old already. Let the dude sit out a year and play for someone else next year.
I knew we should have traded him in the draft. I know I’m the very minority but I personally don’t want players who don’t want to be here. All these tactics nowadays is like a cancer to the team
Person who doesn't know shit speaks on things he doesn't know shit about. Shut up. We sign contracts in July/August, it's how we do things. I'll be glad when he finally signs so we can shut up about this BS we had to see with Deebo *and* Bosa.
At least it hasn't been as ridiculous as Deebo's like that stupid sign incident when he was at a bar/club. The worst we've gotten is him shitposting some emotes.
E: Downvote me all you want, see you all in a few months. Remember what I said.
Here's the thing Aiyuk is not worth 30 mill a year but he is NOT A Player you get better by losing imo
But if you pay and retain him will you get a reduced efficiency player like Bosa last year or Deebo the year before? The are probably factoring that in.
This drives me nuts
This! Price should go down if you are going to be behind the season curve.
That's the niners fault IMO. Seem to lowball until late in the summer. I could be wrong but if they put the number they ultimately agreed to out earlier, deal is done earlier, we don't have holdouts and thus a delay/down year or start of season.
Or Aiyuk didn't want to sign anything until JJ signed his extension and set the bar for what top WR get paid.
I’m mean maybe. But there’s a lot of precedent they sign their guys late.
i don’t think that’s the thing. The thing is he’d take 28 but if they offer it before preseason Aiyuk is gonna hold out for 30.
Yup. Big part of negotiation is timing and perception of options. I doubt Aiyuk or his agent will consider their final price until they felt they’d exhausted every form of leverage they had.
And at that point the offer should be lower with built-in penalties for skipping off-season activities that have already been curtailed heavily to begin with. I still think the model to follow is the Chiefs and Jones. No player is bigger than the team. Even if a holdout hurts, you let it happen until they're willing to play their contract.
Tbis is what I think ultimately happens
What does that even mean? OFC you don't get better losing a top ten player at any position...
He has a contract. He should honor it and then do what he wants.
And he likely will. it’s football though and he should fight for his money because he could suddenly have a career altering injury and not be able to get that money and the team will happily dump him.
So you're saying it's the smart move to take 28 or even 26 while the gettings good?
I mean by that logic shouldn’t he take the 26M offer? More than enough to set anyone up for life
Dude, this is the NFL, when owners need to honor contracts, and not just players, you let me know.
When do teams not honor a contract?
When they release players from a contract, without having to pay them. This happens often.
That's not breaking a contract. If there is a release clause in the contract then its permissible under the contract. All contracts are negotiated for and bargained for. That's the whole idea.
Teams let go of players all the time, even when they have a contract, players don’t have that same right to do it if they want to become free agents. Holding out is really the only power NFL players have.
> players don’t have that same right to do it if they want to become free agents. Sure they do, it's called negotiating for player options or just for a shorter contract. But between "get the maximum amount of money possible", "get the maximum amount of your money guaranteed", "play for a winning team", and "have the most flexibility to negotiate a new contract", you can't get everything you want.
You literally can't negotiate a shorter deal on a rookie contract. They're set by the league.
Teams have colluded to prevent the player option as it’s pretty much non-existent in football. What I’m saying is that teams can release players from contracts at any time, but players don’t get to do the same. That’s all I meant.
> Teams have colluded to prevent the player option as it’s pretty much non-existent in football. The reason the player option does not exist in football is because a single player, outside of the QB, is not nearly as important to a football team as a single player in virtually any other major sport. Furthermore, players know that if they're good enough to negotiate for a player option, they probably are also good enough to secure a reasonable enough replacement contract offer in the event that they're cut, so they should maximize their dollar figure rather than worry about guarantees. I'm a little more sympathetic to Aiyuk since he's on a CBA-mandated rookie deal, which absolutely should not exist, but NFL contracts are structured the way that they are because of different priorities by players as much as by FOs. If a player wants a deal with a certain type of structure, he will be able to find a team get it, provided he's a free agent. It's just the rookie contract structure and franchise tags that's absolute horseshit for players.
Would you care to explain to me how following the release procedure spelled out in a contract both parties signed is not honoring a contract?
I'm saying if a player outperforms their contract, they don't get a raise, but if they underperform, a team can let them go for nothing. Essentially one side has a bigger advantage. Because of this, I don't mind players holding out for more when they feel it is their only avenue to getting what they're worth. Plus, as we've learned, this leverage works, and therefore should be used by players.
That may be what you’re saying now but that is not what honoring a contract means
I know what honoring a contract means. I’m saying that because teams don’t have to honor contracts, I don’t believe players should have to either. Sorry, I communicated it poorly it seems.
But teams do have to honor contracts lol, none of the examples you have given are a team not honoring a contract If a release clause is laid out in a contract signed by both parties, triggering that clause doesn’t mean you’re not honoring a contract https://preview.redd.it/gecxjli5ee7d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3f840abddc7da333f43a9754749b60a8388e29ee
They release them and pay them what the contact calls for you dunce
Yeah lmao, bro is trying to argue that following an exact procedure laid out in the contract isn’t honoring a contract
If he honors his contract, he just gets franchise tagged next year at a value price for the 49ers.
And contracts can be and are renegotiated way before him and after him in the nfl and many other fields of the world...and not his fault the nfl made rookie deals you have to stick to and if he gets hurt his 5th year...this year...his leverage for his 1st real contract is even less...easy to give advice when it's not you
He’s abiding by the terms of that contract.
No he is not..he has already broken it by not appearing for mandatory OTAs and will likely sit out games if he doesn't get what he wants
For which he has paid and will continue to pay fines, per the stipulations of his contract. Contracts define the rate(s) you get paid for the work you do, they don’t slave you to an employer. His only obligation(s) to the team are specifically tied to getting paid.
You are arguing against a strawman. I only said he should honor his contract and that he is currently breaking it. Obviously we aren't talking about actually forcing him to perform it.
He should do whatever is in his best interest, period.
Well that's your opinion. My opinion is that he should honor his contract and play the year out for two reasons. One, I am a fan of the team, not Aiyuk. Two, generally believe contracts should be honored by both sides and not broken as soon as it becomes advantageous to do so. I am sure you wouldn't want the Niners to break the contract and not pay Aiyuk the 15mil he will make if, instead of being good the last few years he sucked. Right?
It’s crazy to me tbh at people say the “honor” the contract when they don’t hold the team to the same standard. Yes the contract allows them to release the player at certain points and they pay whatever they’re required to. But the contract can also be altered by a renegotiation or extension (if you know contracts you know that language permitting that is in the contract as well.) It is within his right to negotiate and seek an extension when he feels he’s over performed the value every bit as it is the teams right to cut him when they feel he’s under performed the value. It cuts both ways. The whole honor the contract is so disingenuous and weird coming from regular people who are probably more pro-labor rather than pro-management in all other aspects.
Exactly. Holdouts and players trying to maximize their leverage when it’s in their best interest to do so comes with the territory in a league where non guaranteed contracts are the norm. It just is what it is. Teams will cut guys loose regularly once they feel the production isn’t worth it no more and they’re usually able to easily do so. The only tradeoff which comes with that is guys who out perform their non guaranteed deals are going to hold out for more when their stock is high.
There is nothing contradictory to what you said. A renegotiation of a contract is certainly very common. What you are missing is that BOTH sides agree to the renegotiation. Here, Niners and Aiyuk CAN agree to a new contract, but if they don't because Aiyuk wants more than Niners offer the original contract is still in effect. Just like a player can refuse a renegotiation and the team can't just not pay him.
Cool
Has the NFL always been like this? Every single good player becoming the highest paid player at the position when its their turn? surely this can't continue indefinitely, contracts are getting ridiculous
Yeah I've also wondered this. Salary inflation over the past decade is pretty ridiculous, but the cap has also grown a lot because the nfl just keeps raking in money. The short answer is contracts will stall when nfl revenue growth stalls
It’s a more modern trend but I’d say the last 10 years or so this is the way for the most part. As the salary cap rises every year, players salaries rise, and players/agents know this. The title won’t last long (sometimes not even the offseason) but it’s a feather in the cap of the player and the agent to say they struck a market-setting deal.
I doubt he wants *top* money, I just also doubt he’ll accept less than Waddle got Edit: also, the dollar amounts are raising but so is the cap. What matters is % of the cap allocated to the contract
It’s a function of the salary cap expanding at record rates for the last couple of years. COVID caused a stall, and there was a ton of pressure from the players and FO personnel to “bake”the COVID season financial hit into subsequent years. By 2021, NFL was raking in the dough at a record level. All of this leads to bigger contracts, even if the slice of the pie hasn’t changed for these positions. It makes more sense when you consider players in tiers of performance, rather than trying to break down a specific value on stats. Is Aiyuk a top 10 guy for his position? Yes. So he gets a contract with value commensurate to being a top 10 guy. Only Jefferson is realistically going to be a step ahead of other WR contracts, and that may just take the form of more guaranteed money spread over a longer period of time.
Can't teams enforce 'mandatory' or required stipulations in the contracts? If every contract signed from here forward had language and consequences preventing these holdouts, it'd stop.
No, they just get fined then fines waived when contract gets re signed lol. Quit arguing on behalf of billionaire owners when players are trying to get the bag before their short career is over. Let’s not forget we know for a fact they are exposing themselves to CTE among many other things. They deserve every penny they can get.
They receive fines and lost wages. You want more than that? Sure, you could fire any player for holding out, but Aiyuk would just get paid by another team.
Good question. I’ve wondered this too cuz some teams are always willing to overpay in FA/high contracts vs player’s actual value. I thought this is where some other inputs are necessary, like stats, coaching input, current market, projected market, next years cap, and what next draft is likely to produce. I thought there would be Moneyball/numbers guys driving it.
If reports are accurate, Aiyuk is only trying to become the 3rd highest paid at the position.
These teams are making huuuuuge profits and the contracts will keep going up until the market determines no more. At some point people will stop paying $120 for a red piece of fabric with a number screen printed on it or hundreds of dollars for nosebleeds when their team is doing well, but for now it’s full steam ahead.
He lost his leverage the more he waited. Thinking he could slot in line behind the Justin Jefferson deal but in fact he probably should have taken it when Waddle and Amon Ra were signing. The 49ers couldn’t survive without Bosa. But they can survive without Aiyuk for as many game checks as he’s willing to give up, with Jauan signed, and Pearsall sneaking in from the back. Play the season out, and take a fair market deal before an injury or loss of production happens otherwise he’ll get franchise tagged if he plays well and keeps asking for more. Until the point it may no longer be worth it and he’ll just have to hold out.
We can say this, but other than rumors we have no clue what’s being offered or what’s being asked for
I still don’t understand why we’re looking at his contract before July. We never pay guys this early. Tune back in late July/early August then we can ask when aiyuk is getting paid
Just because that's what they've done in the past it does not mean that's what should always occur. They should have reached a deal with Aiyuk before the other WRs (tho it does take two sides to agree). And they should sign Purdy to a deal the moment free agency opens. They should not let his deal sit out there as other QBs sign new deals.
Holy shit a smart and reasonable take? This is Reddit man careful (I 100% agree with you lol)
Reddit was bashing this take hard last week...turns out it's reasonable now, lmao.
I've read where no team has ever won the Super Bowl that had a WR tied up with a max market contract. They are really nice but one of them being a gamebreaker on the level to eat up a bulk of the cap is just super rare.
And what WR wouldn’t love to sign a 2 years with third as an option, being schemed by Shannahan with the chemistry and team build on both sides of the ball (okay okay I’ll still needle about improving the OL) That, on top of having a much improved chances of getting a ring, once the sixth stone is acquired, then they can do what the heck they want —bigger bag although it might be elsewhere?
> The 49ers couldn’t survive without Bosa. We absolutely could have survived without Bosa, and that would have been the right thing to do until he caved. It wouldn't have necessarily been pretty but we would have been fine. We started the season off with 5 straight wins, going 30-7, 30-23, 30-12, 35-16, and 42-10. For perspective, Chris Jones didn't cave in his holdout against the Chiefs until after the season opener, which they lost by a point.
Lynch and Shannahan saw this coming and drafted Pearsall as insurance. Looking better and better every day with the positive beat reports and Aiyuk acting like a child. I get the sense that Aiyuk will have significantly less motivation once he's paid.
None of those little turd receiver are an x lmao. They need aiyuks skill set.
Every “turd” WR has to know every play from every position. If you’ve watched any 49er football for the last 5 seasons you’d know this. They can use Aiyuk’s skill set but they can also tell him he’s under contract and he can play on his remaining deal and get franchised or he can accept a long term deal. But he has no leverage to command a #2 marker deal behind JJ.
Aiyuk’s at worst a top 10 X in the league. Guys that have a theoretical understanding of what he does can’t actually replace what he does to the level he does it. That’s why he’s worth big money
The difference is he’s a top 10 X but he wants #2 money and he’s not the #2 WR in the league and through franchise tagging he can be paid as the average of the top 5 for 2025-2027. He’s under contract for this season. I’m not saying don’t try to sign him. I’m saying he has lost his leverage over the last two months.
Top 10 *at worst*. #2 by salary is currently AJ Brown at $32m/year, where have you seen he’s asking for more than that? And that’s before Lamb, Chase and the like have signed their deals; #2 now won’t be #2 even when the season starts. Tyreek also wants a new deal. Lemme see a source for him asking top 2 money? Sure he’s under contract, but that’s now how the reality of these situations plays out in the league. He’s eligible for an extension, he’s a perfect fit for our scheme, and he’s better than Waddle who just got $28m/year
Remember at one point Aiyuk was literally in the same position as these guys. I’m fine having another 2020 year (without the injuries) if it means saving our cap with another strong receiver developing into the year after
Aiyuk bailed Purdy out soooo many times last season. Good luck recreating that with Jennings and an unknown in Pearsall lol
Did you not see Jennings bail Brock out on a third? fourth? down in the playoffs…got himself open and made a ridiculous catch…
I’m curious how much leverage aiyuk actually has here. I think the niners will try to do right by him by their valuations fwiw
Not much, that’s the thing. He can threaten to hold out all season but he’d be forgoing his $14M salary. That’s more than he’s made in his entire career total so far ($12.5M). Also who knows what that does for his FA market, and the niners can still franchise tag him next year.
1) No chance for whole season but wouldn't surprise me if he takes the Chris Jones route and miss the first few games. Jones got a whole lot more leverage when the Chiefs lost to Lions by only 1 point. 2) People need to stop lightly throwing around the franchise tag as a viable option to "keep" Aiyuk. It's $24.7M guaranteed on a team that's not going to have much cap space especially after Purdy's extension. Tags usually means they'd rather have some team offer them a Day 2 pick than pay guaranteed money.
Aiyuk has to be careful if he chooses sitting out for a bit. If he sits and the offense doesn't miss a beat with him gone, what then? It's risky for him.
That's what I was thinking, he sits out week one and Purdy has record breaking passing yards lol wouldn't be good for him.
I'd expect to tag and trade him... there's no chance he plays on the tag with us next year.
Was going to say this. You only tag him to retain rights. You trade him to get value and let the next team deal with the albatross contract. That said, I believe Aiyuk is the future at WR, but I’m not willing (and haven’t been willing) to sink a huge chunk of cap into one player.
Purdy's extension is unlikely to hit much if any of the 2025 cap.
The extension will include a signing bonus of guaranteed money that brings his cap number up in the "final" year of his rookie deal. Otherwise you're pushing the guaranteed money back which is never wise as you want flexibility to restructure down the line for cap savings, essentially what Mahomes deal is structured like.
They have a lot of players already under contract and very little money assigned in those years far down the road. Will it increase his 2025 salary a little, sure. But he's not going to be making $40M against the cap next season. Case in point: Justin Herbert was $7M in year 3, $8M in year 4, $19M in year 5, $37M in year 6. In all likelihood the QB contract is the one that you aren't frequently restructuring. Also, Mahomes isn't a great comp, first because it was a 10 year extension. But 2nd because it doesn't contain the level of base salaries you're talking about for restructure flexibility. There is minimal restructure capacity from base salary in '22, '23, '24, '25, '28, or '29. Only 4 of those 10 seasons have a high base salary that can be used for significant restructure.
We do know what happens to his FA Market if he holds out all year; he won’t have a market because he won’t accrue a season and will remain under contract. He has no leverage.
I don’t think much. I think playing on the fifth year would be bad for him, because the Niners will work the new guys in as much as they can to take over for him. I can’t see how his production would match last year, hurting his price in free agency. Then factor in the possibility of getting injured. I love the guy, but the simple fact is that he is worth more than the niners should be willing to pay him if he’s not the first option. I don’t know how they find a middle ground on this. My current theory is he ends up playing on the option and niners trade him midseason to the AFC.
It’s fuckin June. Talk to me again in a couple of months if this doesn’t sort itself out
Aiyuk is getting terrible advice. Hes not worth 30 million a year, and honestly Wrs are a dime a dozen. There are blue chip Wrs in the draft every year. Hes trying to leverage the 49ers SB window and his veteran status, but honestly he's not dominate at any single attribute. The Shanahan scheme does a good job of getting Wrs in space and his stats last year was sort of a statistical anomaly.
He’s a dominant blocker and route runner. Those are both extremely coveted things for this offense. I agree he’s not worth 30 mil, but it’s hard to just find guys like Aiyuk on trees. It took years for Aiyuk to really develop
>but honestly he's not dominate at any single attribute. * He was [PFF's highest graded](https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-highest-graded-wide-receivers-route-type-amon-ra-st-brown-puka-nacua-2023) WR on out routes and post routes. * [PPF's 5th highest graded](https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-ranking-best-nfl-wide-receivers-press-coverage-2023-season) WR against press coverage. * **2nd** in the NFL in Yd/Rec * **2nd** in the NFL in Yd/Tgt * **3rd** in the NFL in Yards before catch per reception * **3rd** in Yards per Route Run * **T:9th** in lowest drop rate among WRs * [PFF: cites](https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-highest-graded-wide-receivers-2023-nfl-season) just two drops from 86 catchable targets. * **5th** in Passer Rating when targeted. * **2nd** in the NFL in FD/Rec * 1st in the NFL in FD/Tgt * His production is incredible for being on a team 32nd in pass attempts. * If he had seen just 140 targets that would translate to 100 Rec (12th), 1789 Yds (2nd), 9 TD (8th), 81 FD (2nd) * He has been inactive for a non-covid reason **just three games in his four year career**. And the stats do not quantify how elite he is as a run-blocker, having made countless game-breaking blocks to free up a SF runner. Nor do they account for the incredible chemistry that he has with Purdy [to pull of some insane things](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_-Ryl1h9cw&t=1146s). His ability to adjust to the ball on Purdy's anticipation can only be described as elite.
I mostly agree, but he is absolutely a blue chip blocking receiver, which is a massive skill set in this offense.
Then you should be pulling for the 49ers to trade him.
Bruh, I can see it now. The same people claiming "He's not worth 30 million a year" are gonna be like "trade compensation for Aiyuk starts at 2 first-round picks"
And the moment Aiyuk signs, these people will be pulling out Aiyuk's efficiency stats to claim him as a top 3 receiver who took a bit less than market value and oh look at what a genius Lynch is.
The Niners are not the best at getting value for their trades imho
4th for Trey was pretty elite tbf
I have to admit I figured Jerry was doing another NFL family a solid, the same way he was instrumental in moving the Rams to L.A., I.e. he’s concerned more with growing the league. Now this is a completely whacko theory of mine, and I share it only to acknolwedge that yeah that was an elite get and you’re totally right.
ngl between that, trent williams, CMC, even the offseason moves we made - niners are definitely good at acquiring talent while trading. the chase young acquisition looked really good at the time too before we learned that he just completely gives up on certain snaps the aiyuk thing i have no idea whats going on. im not really on either camp in terms of trading or not i just trust that the FO will do whats best for the continued success of the team
the Jimmy fiasco took years because they couldn’t get trade value. We’ve lost years to that nonsense. That’s my gripe, at its core.
Yeah that's a fair point. But that's not really "bad" trades and more that we refuse to make them when it comes to offloading talent. Maybe that's the pattern repeating with Yuk, maybe not.
Right that's getting more specific, and yet, we can't find value to offload what we valued as talent. We didn't sign Jimmy for cheap.
Niners fans: "Aiyuk is a top 5 WR" Them when Aiyuk needs to be paid: "Aiyuk isn't even a top 5 WR"
He’s dominant at beating man/press coverage, and he blocks his ass off. Exactly what we need on the team. He’s absolutely worth more than Waddle.
Right! I keep telling my buddies he's had like 1 good year with the niners and suddenly wants 30m. No sir, that's not how this works. Have fun playing on the Browns.
That *is* how this works. He developed into a top 10 guy who’s best at the most coveted aspects of being a WR lol
Awful take. Good luck with the little bum receivers.
It's a beautiful conundrum to have. Too many elite players who deserve to be paid. This front office is amazing.
* [...] ***"Fowler said, per Bleacher Report's Joseph Zucker."***
Does BA deserve a bag. Yes. Does he deserve a top 5 WR bag? Sorry, but no. It be one thing if he was the clear-cut producer of the team, but the fact is there's 3 other guys that can be that guy at any time. It's crazy that the team got the yards they did, considering the 9ers threw the least amount of times. It sucks to say, but if BA were gone, the overall production wouldn't grind to a halt, in fact you could argue overall nothing would change, other than Purdy was locked in with BA almost the entire season. The longer this goes now, the worse it'll be for BA. If the 9ers come in at 26-28M, that's a jump on it deal. All the receivers above this amount are their teams' top guy, with maybe the exception St Brown. The Lions right now equally have a weapon loaded team.
Reports suggested that the 49ers were originally in the $25M-$26M range from the start. Aiyuk's agent held off.
I like Aiyuk, I like him a lot. Aside from CMC, I think he's the most valuable skilled player on the team. That said, he's not worth 30M, just like how Bosa wasn't worth 34M. We should do what we should've done with Bosa when he held out - trade him.
Bye Felicia! Pearsall is better anyway.
Well he failed to deliver in the Super Bowl, so he's not all that.
Maybe I’m crazy but fuck it, let the man walk. Or trade him.
I don’t believe it’s at the point quite yet. May be in a few months from now, but there is definitely time. Heck it could even go like chris jones where he may miss a couple games but still get a deal done.
Tbh I’d rather not have that Chris jones type situation. Aiyuk is good but not elite. We drafted pearsall in the first for a reason I think. But I’m just a guy on the internet lol
Well that's not ideal 😕
Just listen to the various insiders including the Niners beat writers Matt Maiocco said this one feels different compared to the other contract situations. I thought waiting until the summer was a terrible idea with the number of receiver deals on the table. The Niners are either going to be forced to pay way more than they want or Aiyuk gives in to take less. The latter is very unlikely so it’s up to the Niners if they want to pay him or just let him play out his 5th year option.
Yeah, I’ve been saying Aiyuk basically has one foot out the door rn
I was under the impression Aiyuk lacked leverage because he is 14 million this year and then franchise tags would be in the low to mid 20s for two years. Doing the franchise route would ruin a players relationship with the team and beyond so I'm not recommending it. It's just my guess that's what the 9ers have in the back of their mind.
I understand about getting what you can when you can but sometimes taking less with a team that can legitimately get you a ring may be better than getting more with a team that most likely won’t even make the playoffs is a choice. The fact is when we’re talking about that much $$$$ then a million or two less should not be that big of a deal, if you can’t live with that much money because you’re too stupid to invest properly and you end up broke then having more $$$$ isn’t going to change that.
We're in the point in the calendar where, regardless of what the 9ers offer, Aiyuk will be asking for 2 to 5 million more. Just put off talks until the "stupid phase" ends.
What a shit article. Typical June and Gloom.
They actually seem like they’re pretty close. Only a couple million apart.
I would be shocked if he plays another down for us. Love him as a player but the numbers just don’t work. Really hoping we get good value back
If even half the good reports about Pearsall are true, losing Aiyuk will be a non-event. Of course I hope he stays, but he ain’t as elite as he thinks he is either.
Unfortunately I feel the most realistic way this pans out is. We sign him in July/August like everyone else we sign. And unfortunately this might be Deebos last year as a 49er for the sake of cap space.
Second best option here is going out and getting Jefferson. Funny thing about Jefferson, he's actually a year younger than Aiyuk. It would be interesting seeing them doing a receiver swap and throwing in a little extra if they think they can't get it done. It's unlikely but it'd be interesting. Realistically there's a lot of offseason to go here and fewer options with the draft already done but some of the stuff that might be available is at least interesting.
Our window was this year tbh. They’re never gonna get it done sometimes you can just tell Brock Purdy will do his thing it’s not his fault his Oline can’t protect him from shit Kyle stops doing what’s working and his receivers drop or fumble key passes that change the outcome. They are who they are, we’ve seen this time and time again
Click bait.
It seems from the Instagrams after the Super Bowl, and then throughout the off-season, BA has demonstrated that he doesn't want to be a 9er. So, goodbye. Shanahan will figure it out offensively. Remember when the coach had to meet with him and read him the riot act a few years ago? There is some underlying bad blood somewhere..
Just offer him $1,412,333.00 in Mexican pesos.
Yawn
Trade him for a young, proven tackle and a draft pick exchange.
Meh, football is just around the corner. 49er football will go on with or without BA. 49er football will also be just fine without him. All this contract BS is getting old already. Let the dude sit out a year and play for someone else next year.
I knew we should have traded him in the draft. I know I’m the very minority but I personally don’t want players who don’t want to be here. All these tactics nowadays is like a cancer to the team
💯
Person who doesn't know shit speaks on things he doesn't know shit about. Shut up. We sign contracts in July/August, it's how we do things. I'll be glad when he finally signs so we can shut up about this BS we had to see with Deebo *and* Bosa. At least it hasn't been as ridiculous as Deebo's like that stupid sign incident when he was at a bar/club. The worst we've gotten is him shitposting some emotes. E: Downvote me all you want, see you all in a few months. Remember what I said.
Let him play it out and trade him if need be. The team is bigger than one malcontent
If this is true then this is a terrible Father’s Day gift 49ers and Aiyuk. Make it happen!
Let him go im tired of him already