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 Texans didn’t have their starters on the field against the Bears in the Hall of Fame Game, but they plan to handle things differently against the Steelers on Friday.
Head coach DeMeco Ryans said on Monday that first-teamers on offense and defense will both be on the field for the team’s second preseason contest.
“I truly believe that a guy needs to get reps in a preseason game,” Ryans said, via Aaron Wilson of KPRC. “We don’t go to the ground as you see with the way we practice. We try to keep guys up and be as safe as possible in practice, but I think everyone needs the opportunity to go to the ground a couple times in a game. Get up, dust yourself off and know you’re good. Like ‘I’m okay and I can go to the ground and get up.’ You just have to go through and play live reps of football before live action comes in September. You’ll see our ones go out and get reps this week versus Pittsburgh.”
Assuming all stays on plan, Saturday’s game should feature the first chance to see quarterback C.J. Stroud and wide receiver Stefon Diggs in the offense together. Their results against the Steelers won’t factor into the team’s hopes of winning another divisional crown, but the chance to see the tandem in action should still draw some interest this weekend.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said last week that Justin Fields has taken advantage of the increase in opportunities that have come his way with Russell Wilson hampered by a calf injury and that continued to be the case at the team’s scrimmage last Friday night.
Wilson appears to be on the road to a full return to action in the near future, but Fields’s time as the No. 1 quarterback has provided a chance for the Steelers to see how Fields is picking up offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s scheme. Smith said that Fields is “really operating the offense” and expanded on the threat he can provide to opposing defenses because of his varied skill set.
“He’s a dangerous football player with the ball in his hands,” Smith said, via Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “It allows you to get creative. Maybe you change up a little bit of a defensive game plan for him. Certainly he adds a different element.”
There’s been no sign that Fields’ extended run with the first team this summer has led the Steelers to continue a change in the plan for Wilson to be the starter this fall, but it certainly sounds like the former Bear is putting his best foot forward on that front. Even if there’s no change, the good buzz would also linger in the background come the regular season if Wilson struggles because the prospect of turning to the player Smith describes will have its appeal if the offense is struggling to catch fire.
With pole-position starter Russell Wilson still recovering from a calf strain, Justin Fields continues to get opportunities.
And he continues to do well with them.
Via Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Fields led the starting offense to six touchdowns in a seven-shots goal line drill against the starting defense during a Friday night scrimmage. (The seventh shot resulted in a penalty on the defense.)
Three of the scores were through the air, with Fields connecting to tight end Pat Freiermuth once and receiver George Pickens twice.
Here’s a nice throw from Fields to Pickens in 11-on-11 drills, almost from last night.
Coach Mike Tomlin declared the drill to be a 7-0 win for the offense.
After the scrimmage, Tomlin seemed energetic and borderline excited about what his team has shown him so far.
“We had a high-intensity practice,” Tomlin told reporters. “But it’s part of the process, man. It’s iron on iron, Steelers versus Steelers. But we do it with the mindset that we’re working toward something. . . . I just really tip my cap to the guys for the intensity they brought to the work tonight.”
The Steelers always bring intensity. This year, if they can enhance it with improved offensive performance, it could be a good year for Pittsburgh.
When it became clear that the Broncos would release quarterback Russell Wilson, he had a plan for sticking it to Denver. That plan could be backfiring on him.
With the Broncos owing him $38 million this year, subject to offset, Wilson took the minimum salary from the Steelers of $1.21 million. This forces the Broncos to pay Wilson $36.79 million.
It gives the Steelers a very cheap option, at starter or backup. And with the Steelers making a minimum financial investment in Wilson, the Steelers will be feeling no internal political compulsion to play him. If he wins the job, great. If he doesn’t, they’ll play someone else and have a Super Bowl-winning quarterback as their insurance policy.
Wilson is actually the lowest-paid veteran quarterback on the team. Justin Fields will get $1.616 million this year. Kyle Allen gets $1.292 million.
So with Wilson suffering a calf injury during the conditioning test and the Steelers taking it slow with his recovery, Fields (and, for that matter, Allen) have gotten extra reps in new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s system. If Fields performs well enough to win the job, Wilson really can’t do anything but wait for an opportunity.
If he wants to be a clear-cut starter in 2025, he needs to play this year. And he needs to play well. Both are in jeopardy due to the injury.
The good news is he’ll be making $38 million this year, no matter what. The not-good news is that his opportunities to be a starter could be drying up, forcing him to choose between remaining in the game as a backup or walking away, as soon as next year.
Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson is still waiting to do his first full practice of training camp.
Wilson remained limited at Thursday’s session as he makes his way back from a calf injury. Wilson suffered the injury during a conditioning test and missed several practices before returning to action on Tuesday. Thursday’s workout was his third in a row, so a step up to full participation may not be too far off.
Justin Fields has gotten more first-team work due to Wilson’s injury and head coach Mike Tomlin said this week that he has “really taken advantage of the opportunity.”
Tomlin also gave an update on wide receiver Roman Wilson after the rookie injured his ankle during practice on Wednesday. Tomlin said Wilson is wearing a boot as a precaution and is considered week-to-week in terms of his return.
Markus Golden is back with the Steelers.
The Steelers announced that they have signed Golden to a one-year contract on Thursday. No other terms were disclosed and linebacker David Perales was waived in a corresponding move.
Golden played for the Steelers last season and played in 17 games, including their playoff loss to the Bills. He had 23 tackles, five sacks and a fumble recovery in those appearances.
Golden began his career with the Cardinals in 2015 and returned to Arizona in 2020 after a year-plus with the Giants. He has 51 career sacks.
T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith are the top edge rushers in Pittsburgh. Golden’s return suggests they wanted more competition for Nick Herbig, Kyron Johnson, and Jeremiah Moon for backup roles.
Quarterbacks are in no-contact jerseys during training camp practices, but they sometimes take hits and that sometimes leads to other extracurricular activities.
That was the case at Steelers practice on Wednesday. Justin Fields took a shot from linebacker Elandon Roberts at the end of one play and the offensive line took offense to what Roberts called a “love tap.” Roberts said the linemen “did what they are supposed to do” and edge rusher T.J. Watt also felt like it was a good thing to see how players reacted to that situation before adding that he would like to see it be an isolated incident.
“As long as there is good meaning behind it,” Watt said, via Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “Sometimes you need to stoke the fire to see what we are about as a team. That is all today was about. We don’t want it to continue and mess up practice.”
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin called the conduct “less than professional” and said the team will “learn and grow” from what went down on a heated day at Steelers camp.
Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson’s calf was feeling well enough for him to get on the field for the first time in training camp on Tuesday, but his absence gave Justin Fields extra chances to show the team what he can do.
It sounds like that went well for Fields. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin hasn’t reset the depth chart, but he did tell CBS Sports that Fields made the most of the chance to get extended time with the first-team offense.
“We’ve got two really capable guys,” Tomlin said. “We’re going to create an environment where they get an opportunity to compete and see where they’re capable of. . . . Justin has really taken advantage of the opportunity for additional snaps because Russ has been out some the first week. Really just excited about the trajectory of it. Excited to continue to go with the process and having them display their skills.”
Tomlin said in the offseason that Wilson is in the “pole position” to be the starter come September and his return to work means that he’ll have a chance to further solidify that with a lot of time left before Week One, but any slips could open the door to Fields finding his way back into the mix.