The Cons of the 49ers Potentially Trading Brandon Aiyuk
The 49ers reportedly are taking calls from teams that want to trade for Brandon Aiyuk, and if someone offers a first-round pick, the 49ers just might take it so they can save money and salary cap space.
Trading Aiyuk very well might be the best business decision for the 49ers, but it would be hard to get a better player than him in return. Aiyuk is only 25 years old, he does everything well and he's still improving. Plus he could command much more money on the market than he currently does if the 49ers gave him 10 targets per game instead of 6. The 49ers suppress his value.
Aiyuk is an elite route runner and an elite blocker. He's a deep threat who's extremely tough and is not afraid to go over the middle. He's the total package. If the 49ers trade him for a first-round pick and draft a wide receiver to replace him, there's a high probability he won't be as good as Aiyuk.
In addition, Aiyuk is Brock Purdy's favorite target -- Purdy's passer rating when targeting Aiyuk last season was a whopping 124. They have an outstanding connection, the kind that teams should want to preserve for a while.
Finally, any rookie wide receiver the 49ers draft to replace Aiyuk most likely would take at least three years to fully develop, just as Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel each took three years to reach their peak. The 49ers offense is extremely complicated and hard to learn from players coming from college.
Winning any trade involving Aiyuk would be extremely difficult for the 49ers.
