Top NFL Trade Packages for 49ers’ Brandon Aiyuk Before Contract Bonus Deadline

It has been quite the past year or so for San Francisco 49ers Brandon Aiyuk. After being the center of trade speculation much of the 2024 offseason, Aiyuk signed a four-year, $120 million extension to stay in Santa Clara. That was followed by a career-low 53.4 receiving yards per game—and a midseason ACL tear.

Now, Aiyuk is right back in the middle of trade speculation in what has been a trying offseason in San Fran. But there’s a problem—and it isn’t just the knee.

As reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Aiyuk is due a roster bonus of almost $23 million on Tuesday.

There’s an April Fools’ Day joke in there. But we’ll leave that be.

That massive bonus and Aiyuk’s injury have led sources to tell Schefter that an Aiyuk trade is “unlikely.” But there’s a difference between unlikely and impossible, and we are talking about a proven pass-catcher who topped 1,300 receiving yards and averaged almost 18 yards a grab in 2023.

Here’s a look at a handful of potential trades that could happen, from a blockbuster to a straight-up salary-dump.

Because unlikely has been known to happen in the NFL.

New England Patriots

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

San Francisco 49ers Get: 2025 Round 1 Pick (No. 4 Overall)

New England Patriots Get: 2025 Round 1 Pick (No. 11 Overall); 2025 Round 2 Pick (No. 43 Overall); 2026 Conditional Round 3 Pick; WR Brandon Aiyuk

This is the probably the most unlikely trade on this list, if only because it’s also the biggest. But it’s a deal that could potentially make sense for both the San Francisco 49ers and New England Patriots.

At first glance it might appear a prohibitively expensive trade for the Niners. The fourth overall pick could net the Pats either Colorado’s Travis Hunter or Penn State’s Abdul Carter—arguably the top prospects overall in this class. And ESPN’s Adam Schefter admitted on his podcast that the uncertainty surrounding Aiyuk’s early-season availability is hurting his trade prospects.

"Nobody wants to take on the contract when you don't know when the guy is going to be healthy again this season," Schefter said. "But from what I understand, Dr. Neal ElAttrache is pleased with his progress. He's coming along."

But the Pats should be playing the long game. If you believe that Aiyuk can regain past form, pairing him with the newly-acquired Stefon Diggs would turn a position that not long ago was a glaring weakness into a strength. New England would also gain a pair of top-100 picks (provided Aiyuk hits certain benchmarks in 2025)—all for sliding back seven spots on April 24.

For the 49ers, the logic is simple—aggressively attacking the potential to add one of the biggest impact players of this year’s class. Or, if Hunter and Carter are off the board, the Niners could trade down with a team looking to move up for a quarterback and add more draft capital.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images

San Francisco 49ers Get: WR George Pickens, 2025 Round 5 Pick (No. 156)

Pittsburgh Steelers Get: WR Brandon Aiyuk; 2025 Round 3 Pick (No. 100)

The Pittsburgh Steelers are in a holding pattern, waiting for veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers to make a decision regarding joining the team. But that hasn’t stopped rampant speculation that Pittsburgh is looking to move on from wide receiver George Pickens, who is in the final year of his rookie contract.

Many of those hypothetical Pickens deals center around a Day 2 pick. But while Pickens has flashed considerable talent, we’re talking about a mercurial player who will be looking to get paid in 2026 who has just one career 1,000-yard season under his belt.

Pickens’ father publicly throwing the Steelers under the proverbial bus isn’t helping matters any.

Granted. Dealing for Aiyuk calls on some patience from Pittsburgh. But assuming Rodgers does join the team, he could lean on the newly-acquired DK Metcalf early in the season, with Aiyuk potentially re-joining the team for the season’s second half. Pittsburgh would also move up a couple of rounds in April’s draft, acquiring an additional top-100 pick in the process. They also went hard at Aiyuk last season, so we know the team is at least somewhat enamored with him.

If the 49ers truly are intent on getting out from under Aiyuk’s contract, it may well take this sort of deal. And at least in this case San Francisco is recouping a player who could theoretically replace Aiyuk as the team’s No. 1 wide receiver.

As to that big extension Pickens is looking for?

Well, that’s a problem for 2026. Have to live in the now.

Las Vegas Raiders

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

San Francisco 49ers Get: 2025 Round 6 Pick (No. 180)

Las Vegas Raiders Get: WR Brandon Aiyuk

Things are admittedly going to get a little boring from here out. But here’s the cold. Hard truth. Aiyuk is a highly-paid receiver coming off a major injury who isn’t expected to be ready for the start of the 2025 season.

If the Niners are able to pull off a trade involving the 27-year-old, it’s likely going to essentially be a straight-up salary dump.

There are a few teams who should be interested in Aiyuk (injury and all) if that’s the case—and the Las Vegas Raiders are most assuredly on that list.

The Raiders have already been busy on the trade market this offseason, sending a Day 2 pick to Seattle for quarterback Geno Smith. But while the Raiders have their quarterback now and have an excellent young tight end on the roster in Brock Bowers, the team’s top wideout as things stand now is Jakobi Meyers.

That’s not getting it done, friends.

Only the aforementioned New England Patriots have more salary cap space than the Raiders, so Aiyuk’s salary isn’t an issue. This deal’s modest cost means the Raiders can still afford to attack receiver early in the draft.

And while the Raiders should be an improved team in 2025, let’s get real—they aren’t challenging the Chiefs in the AFC West.

This is a deal made more for 2026 than 2025.

And if Aiyuk returns at anything close to 100 percent, it would be a bargain.

Tennessee Titans

Michael Owens/Getty Images

San Francisco 49ers Get: 2025 Round 5 Pick (No. 167)

Tennessee Titans Get: WR Brandon Aiyuk; 2026 Round 7 Pick

Stop yawning. And frowning. The 49ers got a fifth-rounder from the Washington Commanders for Deebo Samuel.

Good luck getting significantly more for an injured Aiyuk.

The expectation by most is that the Tennessee Titans will use the first pick in this year’s draft to select Miami quarterback Cam Ward. But as ESPN’s Turron Davenport wrote, the team also needs to improve the weapons around their shiny new quarterback.

“Calvin Ridley and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine were the only two pass catchers to finish with 100 receiving yards in a game last season,” he said. “Westbrook-Ikhine has since signed with the Miami Dolphins, leaving Ridley, who caught 64 passes for 1,017 yards last season, as the only proven receiving option on the roster. The Titans added free agent Van Jefferson -- who started 12 out of 17 games for the Pittsburgh Steelers last year. But he only finished with 24 receptions and seems more like a depth signing. Jefferson joins Ridley, Bryce Oliver, Treylon Burks, Colton Dowell, Mason Kinsey, Tay Martin, Jha'Quan Jackson and Stanley Morgan Jr. That's not the most intimidating group of receivers. It's clear the group needs help.”

The Titans aren’t going to contend in 2025, so the team can afford to wait for Aiyuk to get healthy. Add Aiyuk to Ridley and potentially a Day 2 rookie pick, and suddenly Tennessee’s wideout corps goes from a major liability to an asset.

Dallas Cowboys

Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

San Francisco 49ers Get: 2025 Round 5 Pick (No. 171); 2025 Round 7 Pick (No. 239)

Dallas Cowboys Get: WR Brandon Aiyuk

This one is admittedly less likely than the two less-than-thrilling (but realistic) deals that came before it, if only because of good old-fashioned spite. The 49ers and the Cowboys have just a little history, and Niners general manager John Lynch isn’t going to be overly eager to make an NFC rival better.

However, if the Cowboys are willing to sweeten the deal a little and San Francisco truly wants out of Aiyuk’s deal, then it’s not entirely out of the realm of reason.

After last year’s 7-10 debacle, a Dallas Cowboys team that enters every season with aspirations of winning the Super Bowl desperately wants to turn things around quickly. And given the lack of talent on the roster at wide receiver outside superstar CeeDee Lamb, that position is undoubtedly one of Dallas’ biggest needs. You don’t have to go far to find a mock draft that projects the Cowboys taking a wideout at No. 12.

Adding Aiyuk in a trade wouldn’t preclude Dallas from taking a player like Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan in that spot. Aiyuk probably won’t be ready to start the season, and if there’s one thing jerry Jones ain’t, it’s patient.

However, once Aiyuk was healthy he and Lamb would be one of the better one-two punches at the position in the NFL. Add in a rookie and (in a perfect world) a restructured deal for Aiyuk, and a Cowboys team that has the cap space to make this work could be very dangerous offensively.