San Francisco 'not satisfied' in return from Pittsburgh in potential Brandon Aiyuk trade

The biggest NFL saga at the moment resides in the Bay Area as Brandon Aiyuk is still a 49er. Multiple trade partners have been listed for the wide receiver, with Pittsburgh being the most-discussed landing spot. But to this point, there has been no agreement between the two.

According to Diana Russini of The Athletic, that’s because San Francisco has not been “satisfied” with the potential return from Pittsburgh. In an ideal world, a wide receiver would come back to the 49ers in the deal.

While they might be open to other positions, making sure there is a body to directly replace Aiyuk seems to be the top priority.

“The 49ers, to this point, haven’t been satisfied with the Steelers’ offers and would like a receiver in return for Aiyuk as part of a trade, although they are open to players at other positions, league sources said,” Russini said via X.

San Francisco has been steady on receiving a wide receiver back. In reported agreed-upon trades with Cleveland and New England, they would have added Amari Cooper or Kendrick Bourne, respectively. To this point, Pittsburgh has not put anything together to impress.

Both the 49ers and Steelers are in action this weekend for their first preseason games. The regular season is not too far away either, with the first Sunday of the season being Sept. 8.

Pittsburgh ‘preferred destination’ for Brandon Aiyuk

When reports stated Pittsburgh was out of the running, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo pushed back on the idea. He said the Steelers were where Aiyuk wanted to end up when the process was ultimately over, even if it’s taking a long time to develop.

“Some folks said the Steelers are out of it,” Garafolo said on NFL Network. “The Steelers were never out of it, and they’re not out of it as we sit here right now, as well. It sounds like, if you piece this all together, that would be Aiyuk’s preferred destination of all the teams that we’ve talked about.

“So it’s just got to get to the point where the Steelers can sweeten the pot when it comes to the trade offer with the 49ers. And then we can get to a point where Aiyuk can get a deal done with the Steelers and get over there. But in the meantime, it is a standoff right now. There has been no progress. It feels like we’re getting closer, but we’re doing it very slowly.”