Contract hassles happen--they’re a training camp fact of life in today’s NFL. But when they happen to good teams, though, they make quick, comprehensive decisions. They weigh the player, assess his value, gauge the market for him, and run the money numbers. They also carefully balance whatever leverage they have against their relationship with the unhappy camper.
The San Francisco 49ers used to be one of those teams. They locked up Deebo Samuel and George Kittle relatively early in their respective careers. They ponied up to get and keep Christian McCaffrey, largely because they recognized his value as a running/receiver machine in coach Kyle Shanahan’s multifaceted offense.
That was then, this is now. The 49ers aren’t that team anymore. They’ve slow-walked the Brandon Aiyuk contract situation to the point where neither the player nor the teams interested in acquiring him knew which end was up. As a result, Aiyuk is still twisting in the wind, and his teammates are asking pointed questions about his coming availability because they know he’s just as important in his own way as McCaffrey, Samuel, and Kittle.
How the 49ers are botching a big contract
When Aiyuk first demanded a new contract and started his camp hold-in, the solution seemed clear. Aiyuk was grossly underpaid at $14 million going into the final year of his contract, but the 49ers were reluctant to pay him $30 million per. The obvious answers were for the 49ers to either give in, negotiate a new number, or set up an equitable trade.
Rather than make a viable choice, though, San Francisco decided to do all three of those things at once. This is called waffling, especially when it’s done badly, and they exacerbate the situation by allowing things to drag on for weeks.
In the process, they botched a viable trade with three interested teams. The Patriots, Browns, and Steelers all had legitimate interests in Aiyuk, and to varying degrees, they were all willing to pay a fair price. But San Francisco kept changing the terms of a possible trade, and Pittsburgh is now the only team that’s still willing to go forward and do a deal.
The blame pie: who gets the biggest slice?
Aiyuk certainly isn’t blameless in this. He did and said the right things initially, staying invisible at camp and keeping his quotes generic and muted. When nothing happened right away, though, the 49er receiver went increasingly public, to the point where he expressed a specific interest in playing with Justin Fields while blowing off New England. That’s a perfect way for a player to screw up a team that’s trying to keep options on the table, so he needs to look in the mirror to if he wants to get a better idea of why he’s still in this situation.
John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan are taking some well-deserved hits as well. Lynch now says he feels a genuine sense of “urgency,” claiming that “for whatever reason haven’t been able to get it across the finish line.” That’s a nonsensical way of trying to make it look like none of this is his fault, which is ridiculous.
Shanahan wins a prize here, too. Rather than toe the party line, he often says the first thing that comes to mind, which means Lynch has to backtrack and the rest of us have to figure out what the heck these two are doing.
As a result, the reigning NFC champs will go into the season with far more uncertainty than a team at this level should. Top tackle Trent Williams is also holding out, and San Francisco has a serious injury list. Maybe they can get all this solved in time for their season opener against the Jets, who are their own special kind of mess, but right now, that feels problematic at best.