The 49ers general manager broke down the details of extending Brandon Aiyuk and managing the cap.
The San Francisco 49ers held their end-of-season press conferences earlier this week, where head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch answered questions for the final time this season.
Among the relevant topics was the potential impending extension of emerging wideout Brandon Aiyuk, who had a 75-catch, 1,342-yard season for the 49ers this season as one of the top deep threats in the NFL.
As the offseason has begun, Aiyuk and those around him have posted some cryptic messages on social media, while the wideout said that an extension would come if he believed “it was the right move”.
Lynch delved into the extension talks, calling Aiyuk a priority, while looking at the grand scheme of the 49ers process.
“You have to prioritize all these things,” Lynch said Tuesday. “You know Brandon’s entering his fifth-year option, Brandon’s been a fantastic player for us. [Head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] calls him a warrior all the time because of how he goes out and competes. And that shines through to anybody, whether you’re a trained eye or you’re a fan, you can see the passion he plays with, you can see the production that he’s had. We’re extremely prideful in what he’s become, and he should be as well.”
While Aiyuk was a key member of the 49ers organization this season, breaking out as the team’s top receiving threat, San Francisco has a number of veterans making top-of-the-market money, clouding up the situation a bit.
Lynch acknowledged the 49ers’ payroll, but shared that he and Shanahan have developed a cadence over the years of dealing with such extensions, while praising Aiyuk for being an important part of the team’s core.
“And so your team is comprised of veterans who’ve been paid very well, of guys who want to be paid very well,” Lynch said about the 49ers. “We’ve got one guy on our team who’s pretty prominent who can’t be paid real well right now because the CBA doesn’t allow, so it’s all one big puzzle.”
“We’ve developed a cadence over the years, Kyle and I, where he focuses on the season, we do all the planning, and then we present things to him and we work through it, and that’s what we’ll continue to do. But of course, you want a guy like Brandon Aiyuk to be a part of you going forward.”
Of course, the 49ers went through a difficult situation with wideout Deebo Samuel two offseasons ago that went into training camp before the two sides agreed to a deal.
Samuel ultimately came into camp out of shape and didn’t perform up to standards in 2022 before returning to be a key cog this past season.
Can the 49ers avoid that type of situation with Aiyuk, who will likely garner top-of-the-market money?
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