The San Francisco 49ers have backed themselves into a corner. When Justin Jefferson got that mammoth extension, the Niners had the chance to end the matter then and there, either by putting Brandon Aiyuk up for trade pre-draft or by giving him what he wanted. But they ended up offering him $26 million, and it almost felt like disrespect.

Aiyuk’s personal WR coach, TJ Housh, took to Willard and Dibs of 95.7 The Game and spoke about his contract situation. He pointed out how teams like the New England Patriots are ready to offer Aiyuk more than his asking price. Things are different now, and the 49ers are still not budging.

This is what 95.7 The Game quoted TJ Housh saying about Aiyuk and the 49ers: “You have a team willing to pay [Aiyuk] a little more than $32M and he’s not even asking that much from his own team! You wouldn’t give him $28M a year, but you’d give him $26M? That’s nothing!”

All this means that there’s a team out there that’s offering Aiyuk more than $2 million from his asking price, and here the 49ers are, struggling to even put him in the 2nd tier of the highest-paid receivers in the market like Amon-Ra St. Brown. It’s even worse now because that $26 million offer is a story from June. The San Francisco Chronicle’s Mike Silver reported something similar in June.

“I’m hearing their offer is in the $26 million range, which certainly is not Justin Jefferson money, nor should it be, but it’s closer to that DeVonta Smith, Amon-Ra St. Brown, that next tier down,” Silver said.

But before that happened, the 49ers had a premonition of what was coming for them. That’s because the Eagles agreed to a 3-year, $75 million deal with DeVonta Smith. The reason we mentioned Smith is because the 49ers offered him that price after the draft had concluded and the trade window closed.

TJ Housh reported in April: “I talked to BA, he doesn’t want to leave San Francisco. He just wants to get paid,” but that’s a far cry from what the scenario is right now. The Patriots offered him a 4-year, $32 million deal, but Aiyuk backed out of it. He’s reportedly interested in the Steelers now, and the situation is as fluid as it can be.

Latest development on Brandon Aiyuk’s trade situation

It seems like the talk between the three parties is going well. Except there’s a small roadblock in the way. The 49ers want two first-round picks for next year’s draft, which is fine. However, they are making it a hard bargain by asking for a player of Aiyuk’s caliber in return. In other words, they might be interested in George Pickens.

It seems like there’s no such thing as a fluid trade when it comes to the 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys. They could have taken some lessons from the Eagles in this off-season. They extended AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith, safeguarded their locker room, and did it even before the receiver market exploded.

Just like Brandon Aiyuk wanted to stay with the San Francisco 49ers at one point, DeVonta Smith had the same emotions, and the Eagles rewarded him for it. If only this were the case with Brand Aiyuk and the 49ers. The fact that they know Brandon Aiyuk is a top-notch WR and are still willing to trade him is mind-boggling.