Other than finally winning the Super Bowl championship, the San Francisco 49ers’ biggest task right now is to find a way to keep their core together beyond this coming season.
They gave star running back Christian McCaffrey a two-year contract extension this week, but wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, not to mention quarterback Brock Purdy, will soon need extensions of their own.
In his four seasons in the NFL, Aiyuk has gradually become San Francisco’s top option in their passing game, and he and Purdy have developed some nice chemistry and trust over the last season and change.
After he was the No. 25 pick in the 2020 draft, he had 748 yards and five touchdowns as a rookie, and last season he pumped up his production to 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns.
He isn’t quite the game-breaking threat Jefferson is, but he is arguably one of the 10 best wideouts in the league, and he does deserve a big payday.
Jefferson’s extension is for four years and $140 million, so perhaps a reasonable extension for Aiyuk would be something slightly lower than that.
Because Aiyuk has just one year left on his current contract, there have been rumors that the Niners may trade him this offseason, but those rumors have quieted down ever since the draft.
David Lombardi of The Athletic tweeted that the extension Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings just got could cause Aiyuk and the Niners to “dig in” further to their respective places in their contract
