Brandon Aiyuk could have a new home in the coming days.
The 49ers have negotiated the frameworks for deals with the Browns and Patriots for the disgruntled wide receiver, Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.
It’s now in Aiyuk’s hands to see if he can work out a long-term contract with one of the two teams.
The 49ers have given the Browns, Patriots, Commanders and Steelers permission to negotiate with Aiyuk’s agent, Maiocco reports. The Commanders removed themselves from trade talks, and the Steelers declined to meet the 49ers’ trade demands, per Maiocco.
The Browns and Patriots have presented an offer to Aiyuk, who is holding in and not practicing at 49ers’ training camp.
He skipped the offseason program, and the slow progress of contract talks prompted him to ask for a trade.
Aiyuk is scheduled to make $14.124 million on a fifth-year option but wants a market value deal with 21 receivers now with an annual average at least $20 million.
Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com notes that the Browns could afford Aiyuk under their cap if Amari Cooper was part of the trade.
Yes, intentions can change.
When receiver Brandon Aiyuk formally requested a trade three weeks ago, the 49ers reportedly has “no intention” to trade him. Now, the 49ers reportedly are talking to multiple teams about a potential deal.
Via Matt Barrows of TheAthletic.com, “multiple teams” have contacted the 49ers about a potential trade. No deal has been done, yet.
Earlier today, in response to one report of a deal in place with the Steelers, a source with knowledge of the situation told PFT that “no decisions have been made.” Which possibly implies that a decision could be made, in time.
Before the draft, when Aiyuk was trying to get a multi-year deal from the 49ers, it was decided that he’d see whether another team would pay Aiyuk what he wants. And, we’re told, five teams were willing to do it. But the 49ers accepted none of their trade offers.
Possible destinations include the Steelers, Commanders, Browns, and Patriots. The challenge will be striking a deal that gives the 49ers value in 2024, and not just one or more draft picks for 2025.
Aiyuk is under contract through 2024, at a base salary of $14.1 million. He has been holding in — present but not practicing — since training camp opened last month.
The Patriots announced a pair of roster moves on Monday, including one that brings an end to offensive lineman Jake Andrews’s chances of playing for them this season.
Andrews has been placed on injured reserve and going on the list ahead of the cut to 53 players means he can’t be activated during the regular season. Andrews’s injury is not known, but he has been out of practice at Patriots camp.
The 2023 fourth-round pick appeared in 16 games and made one start during his rookie season.
The Patriots filled Andrews’s roster spot by signing long snapper Tucker Addington. Addington played three games for the Patriots in 2022 and three games for the Commanders last season.
A week after pass rusher Matthew Judon pressed pause on practice when the Patriots put on pads, Judon addressed his decision to change course on a potential hold-in.
“I gotta play,” Judon told reporters. on Monday, via Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston. “This ain’t nothing about practice. I gotta do what I’m contracted and obligated to do so I don’t lose my money.”
But it is about practice, because he’s obligated under his contract to practice. And he undoubtedly returned to practice because the Patriots weren’t willing to let him hold in.
That’s the reality with hold ins. Unless it’s the old-school, phony injury-style hold in, the team has to be on board with it. If not, the player can be disciplined for refusing to practice.
So, basically, the Patriots are playing hardball with Judon. And, because he reported for training camp in the first place, he has no moves to make at this point. Beyond showing up and practicing and playing, even though he’s not happy with his base salary of only $6.5 million in 2024.
The first few days of Patriots training camp were controversy free. Then, the pads came on and linebacker Matthew Judon didn’t practice and it got a little ugly and he missed a day of work.
Now, everything has settled down. Judon is practicing in pads, despite his discontent with a contract that pays him only $6.5 million in 2024.
“I expect all of our players to, if the dress is full pads, to come out here in full pads,” coach Jerod Mayo told reporters on Saturday. “I expect all of our players to, if the dress is shells, then to be out here in shells. Like I said, we’re moving past the Judon thing. We’re both in a good place. I think the team is in a good place and we’re pushing forward.”
The fact that Judon didn’t practice for a day and then was gone for a day before returning to practice suggests that he wanted to start a hold-in, but the team declined to cooperate. That’s one of the basic requirements for a strategic hold-in; the team has to be on board with it. Otherwise, the player is simply refusing to practice.
For Mayo, the situation is an example of the fact that, once camp opens, things can and will happen.
“I had a conversation with [Steelers coach] Mike Tomlin at the ownership meetings and he was like, ‘Every day is different,’” Mayo said. “That’s what it is. Just got to be ready to adjust. I talk about mental agility all the time; you have to be able to change on the fly. The opposite is rigidity, which I don’t think I’m a rigid person and willing to learn from other people.”
He’s learning his current job on the job. Which as in most jobs is the best way to figure things out.
Earlier this year, Tom Brady kicked the door open on possibly returning to the NFL during the 2024 season. He has yet to slam the door shut.
And if he ultimately unretires for the second time, he’d be only the third person to play at 47 or older. And he’d be the first quarterback to play at that age.
He definitely still could. His arm will stay strong into his 50s. As to his mobility, he hasn’t lost much because he never had much. By the end of his career, he had perfected the art of sensing a collapsing pocket and getting rid of the ball before he got blown up by someone half his age — even if it meant throwing an interception, or two.
Brady will start working for Fox this year. He’ll have to follow current quarterback play closely. It might make him more inclined to come back, once he sees what current players are doing and he realizes he could still do it better.
Where would he fit among other quarterbacks? Former Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis recently suggested that, with the 49ers, Brady would be a top-5 or top-10 player at the position. This year, however, the 49ers don’t need him. (Last year, they were interested.)
If/when starting quarterbacks go down, will Brady’s phone ring? It depends on the backup, and on other options. It also hinges on the willingness of the team to bring him in and let him play right away.
Is it likely? No. Is it possible? Absolutely.
At the end of last season, Bailey Zappe was the Patriots’ starting quarterback. As he heads toward this season, Zappe is just hoping for an opportunity to make the team.
Zappe isn’t getting many opportunities in training camp. Today he didn’t get a single rep in either 7-on-7 or 11-on-11 work, according to MassLive.com.
Still, Zappe is hoping to do something to convince head coach Jerod Mayo that he deserves a spot on a roster where Jacoby Brissett is the starter, first-round rookie Drake Maye is the quarterback of the future, and if a third quarterback makes the roster it’s more likely to be sixth-round rookie Joe Milton.
“That’s really up to the coaches and what they think and what they see fit,” Zappe said. “Mayo has preached quality over quantity. So that’s kinda been my mindset going into this whole training camp. Whether it’s five or 10, or today none, I’m going to do everything I can to help the team win, as far as helping Jacoby out, helping Drake out after when they go through their series. I think the reps are going to come. That’s stuff’s going to come. I believe in the coaches and everything. I think if the opportunity presents itself, I’ll take advantage of it.”
Zappe has started eight games in his two NFL seasons and has probably shown enough that he’ll be on some roster or practice squad when the season starts, but in Patriots camp he’s not getting many opportunities to show what he can do.
The Patriots announced a series of roster moves on Friday.
They signed tackle Kellen Diesch and safety A.J. Thomas to their 90-man roster. Tackle Tyrone Wheatley Jr. and running back Deshaun Fenwick were released in corresponding moves.
Diesch has spent time with the Dolphins, Bears, Steelers, and Browns over the last two years, but has not seen any regular season action. Thomas played six games for the Bears over the last two seasons and had three interceptions in the UFL this year.
Wheatley played two games for the Patriots last season after being acquired in a trade with the Browns, but then landed on injured reserve. Fenwick was signed as an undrafted free agent this year.
Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo has made it clear that Jacoby Brissett is New England’s current starting quarterback.
But after selecting Drake Maye in this year’s draft, the No. 3 overall pick will get an opportunity to take snaps with the starters at some point during training camp.
“[I]t’s the second week of training camp,” Mayo said in his Thursday press conference. “We have a game here a week from now. He’ll have an opportunity to go out there and participate with, if you want to call them ‘The Ones,’ but we mix and match.”
Dispatches from Patriots camp have noted that Maye has been up and down in his first training camp so far. But Mayo said he likes the way the quarterback has handled the different elements of camp.
“I would say all the rookies are battling through things,” Mayo said. “It’s a different scheme. It’s a different state. There’s just so much change for these guys. But what you want to see as those guys go through adversity, you want to see them handle it the right way. You don’t want to see the explosions on the sideline. You don’t want to see any of that. It’s all about the next page and turning the page, and that’s what I appreciate.
“I got this feeling when we met with Drake in Carolina,” Mayo added. “Just his overall mental toughness and competitiveness, and he understands that it’s not always going to be clean. I will say this, he’s handled it very well. I know that the players really enjoy working with him, and he’s a competitor.”
Maye is slated to make his preseason debut next Thursday night when the Patriots host the Panthers.
New England is adding a veteran defensive lineman.
Mike Purcell is signing with the Patriots, per agency Equity Sports.
Purcell, 33, had been with the Broncos since 2019. In 2023, he registered 25 total tackles with five QB hits and three passes defensed in 16 games.
After entering the league in 2013 as an undrafted free agent, Purcell has appeared in 90 games with 45 starts. While he’s spent time with several franchises, he’s appeared in regular-season games for just the 49ers and Broncos in his career.