Should the 49ers Extend Brandon Aiyuk Sooner Rather Than Later?

The 49ers usually wait until July or August to extend their players who are due, but All-Pro receiver Brandon Aiyuk may be the player that breaks that trend.

A standard that the San Francisco 49ers have upheld under Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch is holding off on extending players who are due until the summer.

July or August are typically the months where they get an extension finalized. It happened with George Kittle, Fred Warner, Deebo Samuel, and most recently Nick Bosa. Now, it is Brandon Aiyuk's turn to wait for his extension, if it does come, for at least four months.

But waiting to have a lucrative contract extension done can test a player's patience. It happened two years ago when Samuel was due for his, which led to him requesting a trade from the 49ers. That request was all for naught as the 49ers would end up extending him in August anyways.

However, this method of waiting until late to extend players has come back to bite the 49ers in the last two years. When they waited with Samuel and Bosa, both players weren't able to hit their stride until midseason. They can run the risk of doing the same with Aiyuk. Not to mention they can be done with the annoyances of trade rumors.

So, should the 49ers extend Aiyuk sooner rather than later?

No, they mustn't. If there was any player that they should've done that for it was Bosa. He is easily the best and most impactful player that the 49ers have had to extend in the last four years. If they didn't do that for him, then they won't and can't do it for Aiyuk.

Breaking their standard that they have upheld for years on Aiyuk would send a bad message. It could possibly make Bosa side-eye the 49ers for it since Aiyuk isn't near the same caliber of an impactful player as he is. There is basically a risk of ruffling some feathers if the 49ers were to extend Aiyuk now. While it does appease the player, they could possibly upset others.

Now, this standard that they have created themselves is odd. I don't see the benefit in them waiting. Perhaps once they have all of their deals done from free agency and the NFL draft it helps them gain a clearer picture on their salary cap. But for players like Aiyuk in need of an extension, they are ones who they should take the extra steps in figuring out how to make it work on the cap.

Regardless, I don't foresee the 49ers extending Aiyuk soon. At the annual NFL owner's meetings, Lynch made it clear that Aiyuk will not be traded and that discussions have been had. I'd imagine the discussions are just preliminary at this point for the two sides to get a sense of where they can meet on a deal.

Hopefully Aiyuk is a patient man because it will certainly be tested this offseason.