After falling to the Kansas City Chiefs in the recent Super Bowl, the San Francisco Chiefs will now face the challenge of building a roster that can win the next one in 2025. The thing is, the front office may have to trade Brandon Aiyuk away to make that possible.
Aiyuk’s stint in San Francisco has helped the wide receiver to grow into the star he is today. But along with that growth comes a hefty price tag for the 49ers since he is among the six players eligible for an extension next summer.
If both Aiyuk and the 49ers fail to find some sort of common ground, the former may have to request a trade to a team that will grant him a bigger bag. On the other hand, extending the wide receiver will limit San Francisco’s ability to build a championship-worthy lineup for next season.
In any case, the 49ers are going to enter the offseason with a lot of questions to answer, especially since the franchise is predicted to be $7.5 million above the cap. In this regard, the biggest piece of the puzzle seems to lie in Aiyuk himself.
Assembling a roster that can make it back to the Super Bowl is no easy task. Dan Graziano explains how Aiyuk is key to making that happen in an article for ESPN:
To me, the most likely way this shakes out is Aiyuk ends up getting traded to a team where he’s the clear No. 1 wideout and where he can get the extension he wants, leaving the Niners to draft his replacement in the first round. That’s the cleanest way for them to address all of their other needs.
I see San Francisco extending Hufanga and coming to some sort of arrangements with Juszczyk and Greenlaw that keep them both around. That leaves the Niners to run it back with the same basic core, some upgrades in key spots and Aiyuk cheering them on from afar,” Graziano wrote.
