On Tuesday, July 16 it was announced that San Francisco 49ers star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk had informed the team that he wanted a trade.
Aiyuk has been looking for a new, improved deal all off-season that puts him with the top receivers in the league. Justin Jefferson DeVonta Smith, A.J Brown, Jaylen Waddle, and Amon-Ra St Brown have all signed lucrative deals with their teams this off-season with each one averaging over 30 million dollars per year and Aiyuk wants to be paid a similar figure.
The former Arizona State wide receiver was drafted by the 49ers in 2020 and has become one of the league’s best in his position. Aiyuk has had 269 receptions, 3,931 receiving yards and 25 touchdowns in his four seasons at Levi's Stadium.
VAVEL will explore similar situations in recent history and how they ended up, to see if Aiyuk is set for a similar fate.
Deebo Samuel, 49ers (2022)
The 49ers are no stranger to having one of their star receivers in a contract holdout. Two years ago, they had a similar situation on their hands when Deebo Samuel requested a trade from the team in April 2022. Ultimately Samuel signed a new contract with the 9ers on July 31, 2022, ending the stalemate.
The Aiyuk situation, however, might not be as simple with the wide receiver demanding more money than Samuel, as well as the Niners having less cap space to play with.
Since signing Samuel to a three-year- $73.5 million extension, San Francisco has also paid the likes of Nick Bosa, Javon Hargrave, and Leonard Floyd huge amounts of money and must cough up more in the next year, if they are to keep Charvarius Ward, Maliek Collins, and Dre Greenlaw. Moreover, cap space could be especially tight with new deals for Samuel, George Kittle and Brock Purdy potentially on the horizon.
Earl Thomas, Seahawks (2018)
Former Seahawks safety Earl Thomas had an enjoyable first eight seasons in Seattle, which included a Super Bowl win and 25 interceptions. However, in 2018, Thomas and the Seahawks were stuck in a stalemate as the player wanted to either renegotiate his contract or be traded to another team.
Eventually, Thomas would report just days before the Seahawks' week one game against the Denver Broncos. Thomas played the first four games of the season, recording three interceptions but would be carted off the field in their fourth game of the campaign against the Arizona Cardinals. He threw up “the finger” towards the Seahawks bench in what was confirmed to be his last game for Seattle.
Four months later, Thomas signed a four-year $55 million contract with the Baltimore Ravens. The safety, however, endured a tumultuous time in Baltimore only playing one season before being released from his contract with the team stating, "personal conduct that has adversely affected the Baltimore Ravens", as the reason for his release.
Le’Veon Bell, Steelers (2018)
Another high-profile holdout was that of Le’Veon Bell in 2018. The former Pittsburgh Steelers running back was coming off back-to-back 1,200+ rushing yard seasons. The season prior, Bell had played on the franchise tag and was given the option of another year on the tag by the Steelers, but instead decided to hold out for the full season, missing all of 2018.
Bell revealed in a social media post in 2023 that he regrets sitting out in 2018 and “shouldn’t have left”.
Bell left the Steelers for the New York Jets signing a four-year contract worth $52.5 million. However, the running back was released in 2020 after the Jets couldn’t find a trade partner, following Bell liking a social media post that said the team should trade him.
