The 49ers‘ offseason has been a whirlwind of financial chess moves—think “Moneyball,” but with more shoulder pads and less Brad Pitt. They’ve been trimming the fat, parting ways with big names like Deebo Samuel and Javon Hargrave, all in a bid to free up some serious cash. Why? Well, when your quarterback, Brock Purdy, is eyeing a payday that could make him one of the highest-paid players, you’ve got to make room in the budget.

But amidst this chaos, the San Francisco team has a lot to tackle. Say—Brandon Aiyuk, this time. The WR signed a massive $120M contract extension with the Niners last year. Fast forward, and Aiyuk is staying in San Francisco with a big, fully guaranteed payday. At the league meeting this week, the Niners’ GM, John Lynch, said that he expects Aiyuk to stick in 2025. The reason?

Well, according to the NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, “His (Aiyuk’s) 2026 option-bonus guarantee triggered yesterday. He’s owed $24.875m this year, $27m in ’26. The $76m that was effectively guaranteed at signing is now fully guaranteed.” Translation? See it this way: The wideout had a contract clause that guaranteed him a bonus for 2026 if he was still on the roster by April 1.

Now that the deadline has passed on Tuesday, his contract is fully guaranteed. And that’s where things get interesting for the Niners. See, a few days ago, ESPN’s Adam Schefter pointed out that once the 49ers pay $22.85 million bonus on Tuesday, “any trade talks would be off.” In simple terms, April 1 was an unofficial trade deadline for the Niners. But here we are.

The San Francisco team had a chance to trade him, considering the guy’s coming after tearing his ACL and MCL in the last season. But let’s not kid ourselves—no team was open for a trade for a wideout who just had a season-ending injury. As for the 49ers, they’re now sticking with Aiyuk in the 2025 season. And there’s a pretty solid reason behind that.

Look, Schefter believes that the Niners would keep Aiyuk for the 2025 season, probably wait for him to get healthy, and display the same performance that landed him a four-year $120M contract extension last year. And if all goes in their favor, there might be a team willing to trade for Aiyuk. For the time being, the WR is expected to return to the gridiron by mid-season in 2025.

So, Brandon Aiyuk is staying in San Francisco, there’s no doubt. But there’s still no end to Brock Purdy’s contract extension speculations for John Lynch and the team’s owner.

Brock Purdy’s contract extension is still hanging in the air

“I think he is [a top-10 quarterback]. I think he’s great. Especially when you combine him with Kyle and what we have, he’s a heck of a quarterback and we want him here for a long, long time.” That’s the 49ers owner, Jed York, fully confident about Brock Purdy’s performance and, of course, his contract extension. During the league’s annual meeting on Tuesday, York revealed that the team had finalized a contract extension for Purdy in mid-season last year.

To top that off, the front office is negotiating a contract extension with Purdy’s camp. And why not? Ever since the 49ers drafted Purdy, the guy’s been one of the most effective QBs for the franchise. He ranked No. 1 in QBR in 2023. And despite the 6-11 record in the last season, the guy finished No. 7 in QBR. And now, the owner is confident that they’d reach an agreement with Purdy anytime soon.

“I don’t negotiate contracts, but any conversations I’ve had with Brock personally have been great,” York said. “I feel good, and when he’s ready, we’ll sit down and finish it. It shouldn’t be that hard to do.” Purdy still has one more season left in his rookie deal, so it’s not like the 49ers really have to rush for his contract extension.

And that’s where John Lynch comes in. At the annual league meeting, the GM acknowledged that there’s no guarantee of Purdy’s contract extension by the end of this month, but there is still a possibility for the same. “I don’t think it’s too optimistic [to get it done by then],” Lynch said. “I think I understand why Brock wants that. We’d like that very much, so we’ve just got to find that right place for both sides, and I would love nothing more than for that to be the case.”

So, bottom line? The 49ers want Purdy. Purdy wants to get paid. And Lynch is out here trying to make everyone happy. Whether that deal happens this month or drags on, one thing’s for sure—Purdy’s about to secure the bag.