During this week’s league meetings, 49ers general John Lynch provided a pair of important updates in the case of Brandon Aiyuk. The extension-eligible wideout is not on the trade block at this time, while negotiations on a lucrative new deal are ongoing.

Aiyuk is under contract for 2024 via the fifth-year option, valued at $14.12MM. A new deal will check in at far higher rate, after the 26-year-old delivered a career year in 2023 (75 catches, 1,342 yards, seven touchdowns). San Francisco already has big-money deals in place for Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle and Deebo Samuel, and adding Aiyuk to that list will likely be a cumbersome process.

On that point, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reports team and player are “not close” to a deal being finalized at this point. Plenty of time remains for an agreement to be worked out, and Lynch noted acrimony related to finances can dissipate once deals are struck. Samuel’s case is a prime example of that, and the Aiyuk situation has not reached the point of a trade request emerging.

However, the Arizona State product has shown signs of discontent on social media recently, and he has made it clear he is aiming for market value on his next deal. Aiyuk spoke about his contract situation during an appearance on the Nightcap podcast with Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson (video link).

“I’m trying to get what I deserve,” Aiyuk said, via Yahoo Sports’ Ian Caselberry. “I feel like this season, this season playing football, I figured out who I was as a person and a player, what I bring to the table, what I bring to the locker room, what I bring to the organization. And just the value I hold when I walk in that building.”

The top of the receiver market has surged in recent years, and an unexpectedly high cap increase for the 2024 offseason will likely help continue that trend. 16 wideouts currently average at least $20MM per season, and Aiyuk will no doubt aim to join that list on his next contract. McCaffrey, Kittle and Samuel are each on the books for two more years, though, and a monster extension for quarterback Brock Purdy is likely not far away.

San Francisco’s accounting on the offensive side of the ball will thus remain worth watching closely. In Aiyuk’s situation, a notable gap appears to exist which will need to be closed if he is to remain a member of the team’s vaunted skill position group beyond the coming campaign.

The 2022 offseason brought a sea change for wide receiver salaries. During the months when the market transformed, the 49ers needed to navigate complex Deebo Samuel negotiations. Those ending with a three-year deal bring more complications two years later, with Brandon Aiyuk now atop the team’s extension queue.

Like Samuel and Nick Bosa, the subject of an Aiyuk extension has been a talking point for a while. But the 49ers do already have Samuel, George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey signed to top-market deals at their respective positions. This has led to Aiyuk trade rumblings, but GM John Lynch did his best to shoot those down. The eighth-year 49ers front office boss also confirmed the team has begun Aiyuk extension talks.

[RELATED: Brandon Aiyuk Expects To Remain With 49ers]

“We’re trying to talk about some parameters of things,” Lynch said, via The Athletic’s Matt Barrows (subscription required). “We’re having discussions. That’s a good thing. There’s no doubt that because we’ve been aggressive so much, there’s some realities that we are going to be faced with moving forward. You just can’t have everybody. But Brandon is somebody that we’d love to keep around.”

If the 49ers are set on giving Samuel a third contract, as his current deal expires following the 2025 season, it would stand to complicate matters for Aiyuk. Brock Purdy has certainly put himself on the extension radar, which will change the 49ers’ roster blueprint. Although Purdy cannot be extended until 2025, contracts for he and Aiyuk — along with a potential third Samuel deal — would line up. Suddenly, this could morph into a Bengals-like situation. Cincinnati followed up its Joe Burrow record-setting re-up with a Tee Higgins franchise tag, as Ja’Marr Chase will be ticketed for a likely record-breaking deal of his own.

Aiyuk just put together a better season than any his 2020 draft classmate has compiled, totaling 1,342 yards and seven touchdown receptions, but he may find himself in the Higgins role. Aiyuk, 26, has not followed the Samuel or Higgins path by requesting a trade, but he is in limbo as of now. Lynch said (via NBC Sports’ Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco) the 49ers have not engaged in trade discussions. However, Aiyuk does not appear to be too pleased by his current standing with the organization (Instagram link).

The 49ers picked up Aiyuk’s fifth-year option, which separates this from the Higgins situation due to the latter being an ex-second-rounder, and Lynch said the team is comfortable with Aiyuk playing on his $14.1MM fifth-year option. The 49ers have made preemptive strikes in the past, with our Adam La Rose reminding of the team’s 2020 DeForest Buckner trade (which came just before the Arik Armstead extension). They also let Mike McGlinchey walk as a free agent, with Trent Williams signed long term.

Unlike McGlinchey, the 49ers would probably roll out a franchise tag for Aiyuk if they are unable to extend him before the March 2025 tag deadline. The team listened to offers for Samuel in April 2022 but circled back to the All-Pro via a three-year, $71.55MM extension that summer. While that complicates the team’s Aiyuk path, McCaffrey’s running back-record deal may not be in the equation by the time the 49ers could have Samuel and Aiyuk attached to high cap numbers.

A trade will be something to monitor, as the Buckner proceedings remind, but the 49ers are currently aiming to extend their 2023 leading receiver. With the Chargers disbanding their Keenan Allen–Mike Williams duo, only the Buccaneers employ two $20MM-per-year receivers.

“We’re going to strive to make that happen,” Lynch said of an Aiyuk extension, via the San Francisco Chronicle’s Eric Branch. “Will it be difficult? I’m sure it will be. But we’ve done a good job of that. Are there some trials in those [negotiations]? Sometimes there are. But ultimately that’s all forgotten when you get something done. And I hope that’s the case here.“

The 49ers are set to have much of their salary cap commitments tied into a small group of high-priced veterans in 2024 and beyond. Brandon Aiyuk is on track to become one of them, provided he plays out his fifth-year option next year and/or agrees to an extension.

Aiyuk has been the subject of considerable speculation given San Francisco’s existing commitments at the offensive skill positions. That includes fellow receiver Deebo Samuel‘s through-2025 deal, which carries cap hits of $28.63MM and $24.2MM over the next two years. Aiyuk will make $14.12MM on his fifth-year option, but a new pact will cost far more. When speaking about the latter, general manager John Lynch notably declined to offer a firm promise an agreement will be worked out.

In past years, Lynch made it clear ascending players like Samuel and defensive end Nick Bosa would be retained with long-term roster planning taking major raises into account. The longtime San Francisco executive recently repeated that his preference would be an agreement with Aiyuk. He was less committal than he has been in cases like that of Samuel and Bosa, however.

“Yeah, there are some challenges,” Lynch said (via Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle) when speaking about Aiyuk’s financial situation. “I hope so. I think we’re set up to do [an extension]. It takes putting the whole thing together. And there’s also things we have to plan for going forward. You can’t just be reckless. We never will be.”

As Branch notes, right tackle Mike McGlinchey represents a recent example of a young starter who was floated as a trade candidate by the organization before ultimately departing in free agency (something which, in turn, came after DT DeForest Buckner was dealt ahead of the final year of his rookie contract in 2020). Aiyuk’s performances have have out-paced those of McGlinchey during his final 49ers years, and he would generate a highly competitive market if he were to reach free agency next spring. The Arizona State product has indicated he would prefer to remain in the Bay Area beyond 2024, but talks on a new deal will be worth following closely this offseason.

Plenty of time remains for the parties to come to an agreement, but the fact Lynch has not offered the same public assurances of an Aiyuk deal as he has in other cases is notable. Coming off a Super Bowl defeat, San Francisco’s short- and long-term roster-building efforts will hinge in large part on the team’s ultimate decision with respect to his future.

The 49ers’ run to the Super Bowl was driven in large part by the team’s skill-position corps. Most of its members are under contract through the next two seasons, but that is not the case for wideout Brandon Aiyuk.

The 2020 first-rounder is set to play out his fifth-year option in 2024, which carries a value of $14.12MM. A new contract will cost more than that on an annual basis, and Aiyuk’s name has previously been floated in trade talks. He recently made it clear (via Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post), however, that he expects to remain in San Francisco next season and beyond.

The 49ers made one of the most noteworthy additions at the trade deadline, acquiring defensive end Chase Young from the Commanders. In the aftermath of that move, however, it was learned the team would make a second contract for Aiyuk a higher priority than Young, who is a pending free agent. A report from last month confirmed an Aiyuk extension is at or near the team’s offseason to-do list.

The Arizona State product has delivered back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons, and he earned a second-team All-Pro nod for his production in 2023 (75 catches, 1,342 yards, seven touchdowns). Aiyuk, 25, added a 9-149-1 statline in the postseason, and he has established himself as one of Brock Purdy‘s top targets. The latter will be not be eligible for an extension until next offseason, giving the team at least one more campaign with its current offensive nucleus.

The WR market saw a sharp spike in the 2022 offseason, with the position’s high mark now sitting at $30MM per year. It would come as a surprise if Aiyuk managed to approach that figure, but he could join the growing list of wideouts earning $20MM or more on their current pacts when an extension is worked out. Deebo Samuel is attached to a $23.85MM-per-year deal for the next two years, and making another sizable investment at the receiver spot would be cumbersome from a salary cap perspective.

A new Purdy deal, along with the Nick Bosa extension (which sees a jump in cap hits beginning in 2025) will make a major impact on San Francisco’s financial outlook in the near future. Aiyuk figures to be a central part of both the short- and long-term outlook for the 49ers, though, so talks on a new deal will be a storyline to watch with the team’s offseason now underway.

Wideout Brandon Aiyuk has established himself as a key member of the 49ers’ skill-position group over the past two years in particular. He will remain with the team for at least one more season, but an agreement keeping him in place over the long term could be on the horizon.

[RELATED: Aiyuk Extension Higher 49ers Priority Than Chase Young?]

San Francisco made the easy call to pick up Aiyuk’s fifth-year option last offseason, a move which locked him into a 2024 salary of $14.12MM. The 25-year-old proved that decision to be wise, setting a new career high with 1,342 yards and an average of 17.9 yards per reception this year. San Francisco is, to little surprise, interested in an extension; Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports the team is making an Aiyuk second contract a priority for this offseason (video link).

Drafted 25th overall in 2020, Aiyuk entered the league with significant expectations. He endured a spell in head coach Kyle Shanahan‘s doghouse early in his career, but his production has increased with each passing season. 2023 marked the second straight year in which he received more than 100 targets, made over 70 catches and totaled at least 1,000 yards. The Arizona State product is thus a prime candidate for a multi-year contract, though reaching agreement on one will add to the 49ers’ expenses on offense.

Fellow wideout Deebo Samuel, tight end George Kittle and running back Christian McCaffrey are each on the books through the 2025 season. That, coupled with the remaining years on quarterback Brock Purdy‘s rookie contract, will allow the 49ers to keep their current nucleus for the time being. The latter will be eligible for an extension next offseason, though, and his play to date has put him in line for a sizeable raise.

The 49ers will also need to manage increasing cap hits on Nick Bosa‘s record-breaking contract over the coming years, figures which are scheduled to jump over $20MM in 2025 and over $42MM for three years after that. Any long-term deal for Aiyuk would carve into the team’s available funds down the road and, of course, limit resources available for additions along the offensive line and in the secondary.

Still, the Arizona State alum has proven himself to be one the top up-and-coming receivers in the league, putting him in line to benefit from the position’s surging market. A sharp spike in value was seen during the 2022 offseason, and 13 receivers are now earning at least $20MM per year on their current deals. Aiyuk could become another member of that club if talks with the 49ers go smoothly this spring.