49ers Trade Rumors: Brandon Aiyuk Drawing Interest from Teams; SF Plans to Keep WR

Brandon Aiyuk is somewhat overshadowed in the San Francisco 49ers' loaded offense, but the team reportedly plans on keeping him despite interest from around the league.

According to Nick Wagoner of ESPN, San Francisco has "received interest" from other clubs looking to trade for the wide receiver. However, the NFC West team plans on keeping him in the fold even if, as Wagoner put it, "they could find themselves in a situation next offseason where they can't afford two high end WRs (like OT this year) but those decisions will/can wait."

Aiyuk is set to make $2.3 million in base salary during the upcoming campaign, but that jumps to $14.1 million in 2024 if the 49ers exercise their club option on his contract.

There may be some motivation to move on from him before that becomes a reality, but the team is also a realistic Super Bowl contender in 2023 and surely wants to keep its weapons together while making a run for the Lombardi Trophy.

A group that includes Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Elijah Mitchell and Aiyuk is incredibly difficult to deal with no matter who eventually wins the starting quarterback job out of Trey Lance or Brock Purdy.

Aiyuk, 25, was a first-round pick of San Francisco's in 2020 and is coming off the best season of his career.

The Arizona State product finished with 78 catches for 1,015 yards and eight touchdowns while appearing in all 17 games and helped the offense stay afloat while others were dealing with injuries. He has been fairly steady with more than 700 receiving yards in each of his first three seasons and seems to be trending upward.

It comes as no surprise, then, that there is interest around the league from teams in need of wide receiver help and that the 49ers don't plan on moving him.

Purdy and Lance are still relatively inexperienced and can use Aiyuk as a big-play threat, especially when some of the other playmakers are drawing more defensive attention from opposing secondaries. Trading that presence would mean losing a major part of the offense who could still be improving even after a career-best campaign.