The Brandon Aiyuk trade rumors aren't going anywhere until he either decides to remain with the San Francisco 49ers or is dealt to another team. Round and round it goes, how it ends, no one knows. That includes 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, it seems.
"Like I said at the beginning of camp, I've kind of planned for everything," Shanahan told reporters of potentially losing Aiyuk. "You know, not knowing, it could go in any direction. ... Nothing's changed right now."
Aiyuk has been linked to the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots in trade rumors — though the Pats have reportedly pulled out of talks with San Francisco. All of this, of course, is over a contract squabble between Aiyuk and the Niners.
"Brandon's a great player, so It's real hard to be better when you lose a great player," Shanahan said. "So we've got to look at anything, we've got understand the situation we're in, what that looks like, and that does take time. Hopefully it'll all work out best for him and best for us in the long run."
Kyle Shanahan provides the latest updates on Brandon Aiyuk 👀 pic.twitter.com/s2cJLsuT2a
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) August 6, 2024
In other words, stay tuned. This is the NFL and this is where things can get crazy. It's hard to believe the Niners would actually deal Aiyuk, but from the sounds of things, they're at least pretending to be serious that they could.