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The Brandon Aiyuk saga is complete. That’s the good news for the Pittsburgh Steelers. But the bad news is it didn’t end the way a lot of Steelers fans wanted — with Aiyuk in a black and gold uniform.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on August 29 that the San Francisco 49ers signed Aiyuk to a 4-year, $120 million contract. That will end the receiver’s holdout with his current team.
“The 49ers are not trading star WR Brandon Aiyuk — he’s staying in SF with a massive extension,” wrote Rapoport on X (formerly Twitter).
The extension will officially end any trade speculation involving Aiyuk.
“There will be no trade: the 49ers and Brandon Aiyuk reached agreement today on a four-year extension that will contractually tie the wide receiver to San Francisco for the next five seasons,” wrote ESPN’s Adam Schefter on X.
After the extension, the Steelers received significant criticism for failing to acquire the 26-year-old wideout. NFL pundits connected the Steelers in Aiyuk trade speculation starting before the 2024 NFL draft.
“This is a black eye on the Steelers front office,” wrote Donny. “Omar Khan & co. have gotten universal praise for their job so far. They deserve heavy criticism here.
“They traded Diontae Johnson w/o a plan. [The Steelers] let WR after WR go by the wayside. They played chicken w/ Aiyuk + SF and lost.”
Steelers Will Not Acquire WR Brandon Aiyuk
Without the addition of Aiyuk, the Steelers only have one receiver on their roster who had 210 receiving yards last season. That’s George Pickens, who will become the team’s WR1 this fall.
Veteran Van Jefferson will start opposite Pickens in Week 1. The Steelers also have receivers Scotty Miller, Calvin Austin III and Roman Wilson on their active roster.
Jefferson once reached 802 receiving yards in a season, but that was in 2021. Miller has a similar story, having posted 501 receiving yards four years ago in 2020.
Over the past two seasons, Jefferson and Miller have averaged 289 and 173 receiving yards per year, respectively.
Austin is entering his third season after being a fourth-round pick in 2022. He missed his entire rookie season and had just 17 catches for 180 yards during 2023.
Wilson is a rookie who missed part of training camp and the preseason because of an ankle injury.
After Aiyuk agreed to stay with the 49ers, a lot of fans and pundits poked fun at Pittsburgh’s wide receiver depth behind Pickens.
“Steelers fans seeing Brandon Aiyuk sign back with the 49ers,” wrote Novo as a caption to a video of a man screaming in frustration.
“George Pickens carrying the Steelers WR room,” wrote Frick as a caption to a video of a boy struggling to hold up a heavy-looking log.
“Steelers fans you can always remember this as the day … You almost had Brandon Aiyuk,” a 49ers fan wrote as a caption to a clip from one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.
“The Steelers at the goal line with Brandon Aiyuk…” wrote The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Paul Zeise as a caption to a failed goal-line attempt.
What’s Next for the Steelers?
Several Steelers analysts have asked what’s next for the team in the aftermath of the Aiyuk extension. But there doesn’t seem to be many great answers.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac tweeted that the Steelers were “not surprised” by the 49ers re-signing Aiyuk. Dulac even added that they “expected” it.
But all offseason, it sure seemed like the Steelers put all their eggs into the “trade for Aiyuk” basket, as they passed on opportunities to add multiple other starting caliber wide receivers.
“The Steelers aiming at the top of the wide receiver board and missing is nothing to be ashamed about,” Steelers Now’s Alan Saunders wrote. “It was always going to be a long shot. The problem with what Omar Khan and company did this summer at the wide receiver position was that they didn’t give themselves a Plan B.”
“Either the team is as confident as they say they are in their crop of receivers behind Pickens, another move is coming, or the Steelers were surprised by the Aiyuk news,” wrote Steelers Depot’s Joe Clark.
Steelers Depot’s Matthew Marczi speculated about what moves the team could now make in the final week before the start of the regular season. However, none of Marczi’s suggested moves included adding another receiver.
“With the regular season fast approaching, it’s time to finish up the unfinished business,” Marczi wrote. “That means a contract extension for TE Pat Freiermuth as the highest priority, and revisiting Cameron Heyward’s situation. We might even get another deal — maybe for Najee Harris.
“But that’s the boilerplate stuff, things that shouldn’t take long to work out. It’s likely that some of these contracts were in limbo pending an outcome with Brandon Aiyuk, to make sure they had the available assets to accommodate his initial contract before completing a new deal.”
While those potential contracts are important, it doesn’t solve the team’s issue at wide receiver. But with so little time before the regular season, the Steelers have little choice but to accept Jefferson as one of their starting wide receivers for Week 1.
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