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Report: Browns Interested in Trading for 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk

This report makes sense.
Grant Cohn|
Cincinnati Bengals safety Vonn Bell (24) dives for San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (11) as he runs in a catch for the game-winning touchdown in overtime of the NFL Week 14 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the San Francisco 49ers at Paul Brown Stadium in downtown Cincinnati on Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021. The Bengals tied the game in the fourth quarter, but eventually fell to the 49ers in overtime, 26-23. San Francisco 49ers At Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals safety Vonn Bell (24) dives for San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (11) as he runs in a catch for the game-winning touchdown in overtime of the NFL Week 14 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the San Francisco 49ers at Paul Brown Stadium in downtown Cincinnati on Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021. The Bengals tied the game in the fourth quarter, but eventually fell to the 49ers in overtime, 26-23. San Francisco 49ers At Cincinnati Bengals | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

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San Francisco 49ers

Brandon Aiyuk's trade market could heat up this week.

The 49ers are trying to save cash so they can afford to extend Brock Purdy's contract, and Aiyuk has a $22.855 million option bonus due on April 1. Which means the 49ers probably wouldn't mind trading Aiyuk in the next few days.

Enter the Cleveland Browns. Apparently, they're interested in trading for Aiyuk according to John Frascella.

This report makes sense. The Browns tried to trade for Aiyuk last year before he ultimately signed a four-year, $120 million contract with the 49ers. Aiyuk apparently didn't want to sign an extension with Cleveland and commit to playing with Deshaun Watson.

But now, Aiyuk is under contract through 2028 and the Browns could be drafting a new quarterback next month -- Perhaps Colorado's Shedeur Sanders. Maybe Aiyuk would be open to playing with Sanders.

Aiyuk tore his ACL, MCL and meniscus last season and it's unclear when he'll be able to pass a physical let along return to playing football. So it's not a slam dunk that the Browns or any team will want Aiyuk enough to make the 49ers an offer they would accept.

But if the 49ers simpy want to save cash and move his contract, they could trade him for a fourth- or fifth-round draft pick. The risk is that Aiyuk could return to form in 2026 and the Browns would get a No. 1 wide receiver without giving up much of anything.

We'll see if that's a risk the 49ers are willing to take.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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