{"id":259684,"date":"2025-12-19T14:00:50","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T19:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=259684"},"modified":"2025-12-19T07:45:38","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T12:45:38","slug":"breaking-latest-report-complicates-brandon-aiyuk-trade-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/12\/19\/breaking-latest-report-complicates-brandon-aiyuk-trade-rumors\/","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Latest Report Complicates Brandon Aiyuk Trade Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brandon Aiyuk Era in San Francisco is unofficially over, and most expect the team to trade him at some point in the offseason. A first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft<\/a>, Aiyuk quickly established himself as the team’s most reliable receiver and earned a massive four-year, $120 million extension after helping the team reach the Super Bowl in the 2023 season. However, this proved to be a poor investment, as Aiyuk tore his ACL and reportedly went AWOL on the organization during rehab. The 49ers voided all the unpaid guarantees in his contract, signifying a point of no return for the player and organization.<\/p>\n

While it’s safe to assume Brandon Aiyuk has played his last game with the 49ers, a recent report suggests the team won’t be able to trade him. According to Matt Barrows of\u00a0The Athletic<\/em><\/a>, organizations around the league aren’t willing to give up a draft pick for Aiyuk’s services, so the team will likely have to release him.<\/p>\n

REPORT: 49ers Likely To Release, Not Trade, Brandon Aiyuk<\/h2>\n

It’s clear that Aiyuk’s antics drastically impacted his value, as Barrow’s report implies teams won’t even send a seventh-round pick for his services. Chances are, Aiyuk will have to sign a one-year, prove-it deal to re-establish his value, and the following three teams could be willing to pursue him.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: D. Ross Cameron – Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

3. Pittsburgh Steelers<\/h3>\n

The Pittsburgh Steelers tried to trade for Brandon Aiyuk at multiple points over the past two seasons, and now they could get him without forfeiting a draft pick. At 8-6, the team is atop the AFC North and is in a prime position to make another playoff run despite their lack of depth at wide receiver. D.K. Metcalf is still good<\/a>, but the rest of the depth chart leaves a lot to be desired. Even if Aaron Rodgers returns for the 2026 season, he’ll need more help to turn this unit into an elite passing attack.<\/p>\n

Aiyuk comes with his fair share of risks, but he and Metcalf have the potential to be one of the league’s best wide receiver duos. Combined with an aging Aaron Rodgers<\/a>, who is still an adequate starter, this trio could finally lead the team on that long-awaited deep playoff run. The Steelers won’t fire Mike Tomlin, but they could allow his contract to expire if he can’t get a playoff win in the next two seasons.<\/p>\n

\"Steelers
Dec 15, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) throws a touchdown pass in the third quarter against the Miami Dolphins at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

2. Baltimore Ravens<\/h3>\n

Nobody loves buying low on aging veterans more than the Baltimore Ravens. While these moves don’t always work out, Baltimore’s philosophy revolves around throwing as many darts as you can and trusting that the high-upside hits far outweigh the low-risk misses. With this in mind, Brandon Aiyuk is the perfect target for this team, especially if they don’t need to trade anything for his services.<\/p>\n

Zay Flowers is a good wide receiver<\/a>, but Rashod Bateman has never quite lived up to his potential while DeAndre Hopkins is nothing more than a depth player at this stage in his career. Aiyuk has the potential to be a legitimate weapon that could elevate the Ravens to a long-awaited championship run with Lamar Jackson under center.<\/p>\n

\"NFL
Dec 7, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) passes the ball while defended by Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Alex Highsmith (56) and linebacker Nick Herbig (51) during the second half at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

1. New England Patriots<\/h3>\n

No team tried harder to trade for Brandon Aiyuk than the New England Patriots. Eliot Wolf and company<\/a> did everything in their power to bring the former first-round pick to Foxboro, but Aiyuk himself shot down several deals. At the time, consensus was that he didn’t want to join a team with no proven answer at quarterback or head coach, especially when multiple organizations were willing to give him life-changing money.<\/p>\n

Fast-forward a few months, and Drake Maye is playing at an MVP level<\/a>, Mike Vrabel has stabilized the organization, the Patriots are winning the AFC East, and nobody is willing to give Aiyuk a long-term financial commitment. The stars are aligning for the two sides to finally unite, and Aiyuk should thrive with a great quarterback like Maye.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The San Francisco 49ers might have trouble finding a trade partner for disgruntled wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2376,"featured_media":259685,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6431,5],"tags":[6254,7638,7325],"class_list":["post-259684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-teams","category-patriots","tag-brandon-aiyuk","tag-ravens-featured","tag-san-francisco-49ers-news"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2376"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259684"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":259686,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259684\/revisions\/259686"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}