49ers News: Brandon Aiyuk was nearly traded to the Steelers before contract extension

Saying the San Francisco 49ers signed Brandon Aiyuk at the 11th hour may be the understatement of the year. During the Fox Sports broadcast for the NFL, Jay Glazer had a report that a trade was just moments away from being finalized with the Pittsburgh Steelers. And by moments, we mean mere moments.

“The day it actually got done, the 49ers were trading him to the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was already en route there. And then all the sudden Brandon Aiyuk happened to show up early to the facility that day. Went downstairs trying to meet with Kyle Shanahan, Kyle Shanahan was trying to get in touch with the front office, but they couldn’t take his call because they were trying to get the trade done to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“So Shanahan actaully ran all the way upstairs, said, ‘hold this, let’s put a hold on these trade talks right now. Pittsburgh we’ll call you right back.” They went down and talked to Aiyuk for about two hours and said, ‘look you have until the end of practice, we’re either trading you to Pittsburgh today or you can take the deal that’s been on the table, it’s up to you, but you have until the end of practice.’

“He [Aiyuk] says, ‘this is where I want to be.’ Brandon Aiyuk remains a 49er.”

Shortly after news of the Aiyuk deal broke, Adam Schefter reported that the agreement was the same as the one offered on August 12. Given what Glazer is saying, that lends some credibility to it. Schefter was called out by Aiyuk’s agent for the report being “factually inaccurate,” but the inaccuracy seems to be the date Schefter originally had as August 10.

Saying this came down to the wire isn’t even accurate. This was down to the final thread of that wire, as all others were cut. I wish I could look at Kyle Shanahan getting a busy signal from the front office and then sprinting through the facility trying to get to them and say to hold off on the Pittsburgh deal.

As far as the Steelers were concerned. What we knew of them was nothing they offered the 49ers was satisfactory. Aiyuk’s deal was right in the neighborhood of the 49ers’ offer. There was a report days before the deal by Michael Silver indicating that the Steelers and the Washington Commanders could be back in the mix. Still, all signs indicated that the 49ers and Aiyuk had resumed negotiations.

If this is any indication, the 49ers basically had had enough of the staredown and were prepared to deal Aiyuk. Whether it’s because Pittsburgh had a better offer at the last minute, the front office had enough of dealing with the entire thing, or both. Aiyuk admitted he made the whole thing harder than it needed to be.

We’ll probably get some more information on what happened in these final moments throughout the season, but even after being finished, the Brandon Aiyuk saga continues to be fascinating.

Only the 49ers could have an offseason storyline like this.