Aiyuk to the Steelers?

[SHOWTIME]

Seems to be a lot of buzz around the Steelers finalizing a trade for Aiyuk.

Though things remain fluid between the Brandon Aiyuk camp, the 49ers and their trade partners, the Steelers have been gaining traction as Aiyuk’s preferred destination, I’m told. Despite stronger offers from other teams, Pittsburgh has emerged as a real option. pic.twitter.com/UcFLbASwEx

— Cam Marino (@MarinoNFL) August 5, 2024

Sources: The Steelers are working hard on a trade for Brandon Aiyuk. And a deal could get done soon. 49ers seem motivated now to get something done. pic.twitter.com/HkPHUyRq8N

— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) August 5, 2024

�� BREAKING��

The Pittsburgh #Steelers are reportedly in the final stages of negotiations to acquire wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk from the San Francisco #49ers.

The deal is expected to be finalized soon, as both teams appear highly motivated to reach an agreement.#NFL pic.twitter.com/nujTIW6uh5

— The Standard (@TheStandard412) August 5, 2024

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by mr. tegu

Besides that being a huge outlier season for him, that’s literally exactly what they were. Over 50% of his 1400 receiving yards, 768, were YAC that season. His average depth of catch, 8.3, was LESS than his average YAC, 10.

In that same offense this past season Aiyuk had 1342 yards but only 382 YAC. His depth of catch was 12.8. A Quick Look at other top receivers guys shows similar percentages for YAC and depth of target on big seasons.

Yeah - those are the dangers of statline scouting.

I think all of us have seen Deebo play a fair bit, no? I've seen probably 4-6 games with him.

And no, he's not a route runner. He's average to slightly below in that regard. As was noted previously, Trent McDuffie was absolutely eating his lunch because McDuffie could read his breaks like a book. And that's who he's pretty much always been.

He's a gadget player, pure and simple. And again, I never said he's not a damn nice offensive weapon (when healthy) but that doesn't make him more valuable for probably 3/4 of the teams in the league because they lack the offensive creativity to utilize him.

Meanwhile every team in the league can use Aiyuk at a high level because even a team with an iffy QB can feed a physical dude like Aiyuk (see the Cassel/Bowe connection).

And with Aiyuk's style, I think he'll even age pretty well. Whereas Deebo has already declined and will only continue to do so.

If the 49ers could dump Deebo's $21 million in guaranteed salary (to say nothing of the void years and $12 million in pro-rated charges) and use that to retain Aiyuk, I think they'd do it in a heartbeat. And that's with a team that DOES know how to use him.

But they needed him when they gave him that extension. And figured they could ride out Aiyuk and Williams. Trent really REALLY ****ed them here.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by Hoover

I think it’s crazy that the 49ers have one year left in their window with a cheap rookie QB and instead of every being on board to win a Super Bowl, they are demanding trades or holding out for big contracts. We are blessed. Hell the Chris Jones crap last year sucked but wasn’t this bad.

The thing is....you could see all this coming. I'm not sure what they thought was gonna happen.