San Francisco 49ers legend Steve Young recently took Brandon Aiyuk to task over his ongoing contract drama in a surprising rant on a local radio station.
One of the biggest stories in the NFL this summer has been the ongoing contract dispute between the 49ers and receiver Brandon Aiyuk. The rising star wants a new long-term deal before risking injury in the final year of his contract. However, the organization already has some major contracts on the books. And more coming in the future.
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Threading the needle to make both sides happy in a new deal has proven extremely difficult. Furthermore, putting together a trade has also been very problematic. Either because the 49ers are not getting offers they like, or Aiyuk was not interested in accepting a trade to the teams San Francisco was able to agree to a trade with.
That second part is something that rubs 49ers legend Steve Young the wrong way. And he let it be known when he delivered some strong opinions about the receiver during a fiery appearance on sports radio station KNBR this week.
“If you’re going to ask to be traded, then when they make a trade that works for them, you got to say you’re up for it,” Young said [h/t 49ers Webzone]. “You don’t say, ‘Oh, no, that doesn’t work for me,’ because then, it was like, ‘Well, what do you want?'”
Steve Young suggests Brandon Aiyuk’s agent must get in his ear about the value in the 49ers offer in front of him
While Young still believes the two sides can still agree on a new pact, he believes Aiyuk needs to come to terms with the reality of the contract situation. And the receiver’s agent needs to help him see the “values other than the dollars” in a new contract with the franchise.
“It’s not like they’re broken relationships, but it’s stretched. It’s strained,” he said. “And I think, at the end of the day, Brandon’s now sitting in front of a contract that’s probably [one] the 49ers have stretched as much as they possibly can.”
“That’s where the agent’s got to be able to figure out a way to bring that player to see the values other than the dollars,” he added. “… [To tell Aiyuk] there’s a lot of great players out there that are playing with brutal teams that have no chance to see the full measure of who they could be as a player, and that’s not you.”