WATCH: Christian McCaffrey ignites Brandon Aiyuk's 49ers exit speculation with massive slip up on live TV
Is Brandon Aiyuk really leaving the San Francisco 49ers? Late on Monday, reports emerged that the New England Patriots and Cleveland Browns had made trade offers for the disgruntled All-Pro wide receiver. The Pittsburgh Steelers also resumed negotiations earlier that day, and they saw positive progress on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, one of his current teammates has "accidentally" revealed that a parting of ways is bound to happen soon. Speaking on NFL Network's Inside Training Camp Live during 49ers practice, running back Christian McCaffrey said:
"That's not part of my job. It's not part of my position. Obviously, as a former teammate, or teammate of his in general, any teammate you have, you love and respect them. You want the best for them. As far as the business side of this game goes, it's always difficult. So, I stay out of it completely."
It seems like Christian McCaffrey has let the cat out of the bag.
49ers insider calls potential Brandon Aiyuk trade a massive failure for the team
Ever since he was drafted in 2020, Brandon Aiyuk has been a key part of the 49ers’ successes in the Kyle Shanahan-John Lynch era. As one of the team’s top two wideouts beside Deebo Samuel, he has made three conference title games, reaching the Super Bowl on his last attempt.
That is why the likes of the Patriots have been “aggressively” wanting to make him one of the league’s highest-paid players at his position after trading for him, to quote ESPN’s Mike Reiss:
And should such a transaction materialize, then it will, according to The Athletic's Tim Kawakami, one of the biggest mistakes in recent franchise history - one that has been germinating for quite some time now:
"They underestimated the wide-receiver market and Aiyuk’s commitment to getting what he feels he deserves. They fumbled away the moment when it seemed like this deal was very close in May. They miscalculated the economics."
And that is without factoring in the extensions and restructurings that the likes of the Detroit Lions did during the offseason:
"Good teams accumulate a lot of talent; the great ones keep that talent around as long as possible… This (planned trade) feels reckless. Short-sighted."
Shanahan and defensive end Nick Bosa have said that they see the ramifications of this, calling parting ways with Aiyuk something that they may not take well in separate statements.