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The Latest on Brandon Aiyuk's Trade Drama with the 49ers
SportsGrid
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8/6/2024
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Sports
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00:00
Adam Kaplan is our NFL insider.
00:02
He's covered the NFL for almost 30 years,
00:04
second to none in the business,
00:06
and we're lucky to have him on Sports Grid.
00:08
You can follow him on X at Kaplan NFL.
00:10
He's traveled all over the country
00:12
to training camps already this summer.
00:14
He was just in Lipstick City, where he's very popular.
00:17
But we'll start today by talking about Brandon Aiyuk.
00:21
Now, the thing that I'm interested in,
00:22
as you know, is only one-sided.
00:25
The Steelers were out of the conversations as of last night,
00:28
and then re-injected into those trade conversations today.
00:34
All right, I'm gonna go back a while here
00:36
with the Steelers and Brandon Aiyuk.
00:37
They've been interested in him, I'm told, for months.
00:40
And they monitored the situation
00:42
as other teams have had done,
00:44
and we'll talk about that as well.
00:46
But going to your Steelers,
00:48
this is their interest level,
00:49
and basically what I understand.
00:50
So here's what they know.
00:52
Pickens is definitely a starter.
00:53
Opposite him, they don't know
00:54
who's gonna be starting week one.
00:56
Rowan Wilson, who they really like his week-to-week
00:58
with an ankle injury.
01:00
Van Jefferson, I'm told, has looked good filling in for him,
01:02
but let's call it like it is.
01:04
Van Jefferson's a pretty good backup, that's it.
01:06
They need a starter to be in the lineup opposite Pickens.
01:10
The teams know what the asking price is.
01:13
The feeling around the league is,
01:14
if you're trading for Brandon Aiyuk,
01:16
you're gonna have to give him the receiver back
01:18
so that your Steelers remain interested.
01:20
Now, understand with trade talks,
01:23
you can have an understanding one day that,
01:24
you know what, we're not gonna do this,
01:26
but you monitor and you keep checking, keep checking,
01:29
and you can get back in.
01:30
And I know ESPN had a report that they're back in,
01:32
and I know they've been monitoring the whole time.
01:35
So, and let's go talk about the other teams here,
01:38
the Browns.
01:39
I know people are kind of surprised.
01:40
Why would the Browns be mentioned?
01:41
Gotta understand a couple of things here.
01:43
Murray Cooper is on the last year of his deal.
01:45
He didn't get an extension.
01:46
He got a revised last year of his contract.
01:49
They added 5 million incentives.
01:51
They guaranteed his salary for the season,
01:53
but he's not signed past the season.
01:55
Elijah Moore, you might remember a couple of years ago,
01:56
he was acquired from the Jets, former second round pick.
01:59
He's on the final year of his rookie deal.
02:01
So, if you look past this season,
02:03
they don't have anybody.
02:04
They don't have a true number one receiver.
02:07
Jerry Judy is like a 1A, by the way.
02:09
Jerry Judy, his contract extended,
02:11
making over 17 million this season,
02:13
but the Browns are going for it.
02:14
I'm told Deshaun Watson looks pretty good in training camp.
02:17
They're going for it,
02:17
and they have sincere interest in this player.
02:20
And then the Patriots, in my reporting here,
02:22
I put out back in March,
02:23
the Patriots are calling every single team
02:26
who potentially had a receiver available.
02:28
They were in on Calvin Ridley.
02:29
They thought they made a competitive offer.
02:30
He decided not to re-sign with the Jaguars.
02:33
He wanted to stay down Southeast with the Titans.
02:35
They called the Eagles for A.J. Brown.
02:37
They told him that they were not trading the player.
02:40
Well, they called a lot of teams for him,
02:41
so they're sincerely interested.
02:43
And by the way, knowing the way these things work,
02:47
you typically want to trade, when you make a trade
02:50
and you're going to get a first or second round pick
02:51
or multiple picks, you like to trade them to a team
02:54
that's A, not going to be very good,
02:55
and B, it's going to have a high draft pick.
02:58
If you look at all the teams that are interested in Farrell,
03:00
the Patriots would give him the most return for their buck.
03:03
And the Commanders, by the way,
03:05
the Commanders are running a spread offense
03:07
under Cliff Kingsbury, their new offensive coordinator.
03:10
They're locked in for the future with Terry McLaurin.
03:13
But let's not forget, this is a new regime
03:16
and a new coaching staff.
03:17
Jahan Dotson, who's a former first round pick,
03:20
they're still trying to get him going here,
03:21
try to get him to the next level.
03:23
So they have sincere interest in IU,
03:25
but to me, when you look at the Browns,
03:28
make a ton of sense.
03:29
Again, you're not trading for a player for one year.
03:32
The Browns make a lot of sense.
03:34
The Steelers are obvious.
03:36
Now, I would say the one thing about the Steelers,
03:38
they're typically not,
03:38
they don't typically don't do big deals like this
03:40
in terms of acquiring players.
03:42
Usually they trade them away.
03:43
But the bottom line is,
03:44
you got to keep an eye on your Steelers
03:46
because you get a Brandon Iyuk
03:49
to get paired with George Pickens,
03:51
that's a game changer.
03:52
Don't worry about the depth.
03:53
You've got two absolute studs at receiver.
03:55
Now, as far as the Niners,
03:57
when you look at their situation,
03:59
if they're able to move Iyuk, Ricky Pearsall,
04:01
unfortunately, Kyle Shanahan said today,
04:03
and I could give you a little bit more information on it
04:05
as I understand it.
04:06
Shanahan said there was an issue with his shoulder
04:08
from OTAs.
04:09
I'm told the hamstring is fine.
04:11
He's practiced well, but now he's got a shoulder issue.
04:15
Remember, they drafted him in the first round this year.
04:17
He's got to start someday.
04:19
Within his first four years of his contract,
04:20
he's got to be a starter.
04:22
But you've got Deebo Samuel past this season for real.
04:25
No guarantee money left in his contract.
04:27
So they could always get out of it if they want to.
04:29
But they've tried to get Iyuk resigned,
04:31
but they're nowhere close.
04:34
Because he's with this team with a lot of passing options,
04:37
Christian McCaffrey, by the way,
04:38
is going to be down for a bit with a calf injury.
04:41
It's hard to pay him like A.J. Brown money,
04:44
$32 million a year, a true number one,
04:46
when he's not putting up those type of numbers
04:48
because of the situation he's in.
04:49
There's too many guys who are going to get the football
04:51
in the Niners' offense.
04:53
So just now, I guess,
04:55
McCaffrey did an interview with NFL Network
04:57
where he said literally, quote, unquote,
05:00
that Iyuk is a former teammate.
05:04
Do you think he's been traded this afternoon already,
05:07
and we just don't know to who?
05:09
Well, look, they're engaged with a bunch of teams here,
05:12
and we know the report about your Steelers.
05:14
And look, they know that getting a deal done with Iyuk,
05:19
with their team, with the Niners,
05:20
is highly unlikely because they're so far apart.
05:23
Yeah, he said former teammate, huh?
05:25
I wonder if that's a Freudian slip
05:26
or if that's actually the truth.
05:27
So that is interesting.
05:29
No, but it has not been done yet, as far as I know.
05:31
Within the last five minutes, as I look at my texts, no.
05:34
Not that it's been done yet.
05:35
We'll see.
05:36
Okay, so let's talk about the Raiders,
05:38
because you were just with them in Costa Mesa, California.
05:42
How did that go?
05:44
That was amazing.
05:45
I have to tell you, this was last Saturday evening, right,
05:48
where the Chargers used to practice,
05:49
and they've moved to the Bolt and El Segundo.
05:53
In my entire career, I've not seen anything like this.
05:55
They hit for, well, I'm talking about in pads,
05:58
taking players to the ground, actual tackling,
06:01
for well over a half an hour.
06:02
This is really not done.
06:04
Usually when teams hit, Scott, it's for three to five minutes,
06:08
maybe 10, and usually they separate,
06:10
do maybe two small hitting periods.
06:12
Antonio Pierce wants a physical team.
06:14
He told me that as much when I was talking to Coach Pierce
06:17
at the owners' meetings back in March.
06:19
But this is unbelievable, Scott.
06:21
I mean, it was, you just don't see this.
06:23
And I got to tell you, and I know the oddsmakers have them
06:26
at 6 1⁄2, the over is minus 145,
06:29
but the over at 7 1⁄2 is plus 135.
06:32
Let's not forget, they were 8-9 last season.
06:35
Okay, remember, until late in the season,
06:37
they were in the playoff line for a wild card.
06:39
This team is better.
06:40
Now, you could talk about quarterback all you want.
06:42
Aiden O'Connell's competing against Gardner Minshew.
06:44
My sense is Minshew's a little bit ahead,
06:46
but the Raiders will tell you it's wide open
06:50
and they're going to settle this after the preseason.
06:52
Minshew, by the way, had a phenomenal practice,
06:54
maybe his best at training camp last Saturday.
06:56
O'Connell's a gunslinger.
06:57
What I like about this team, though, moving on here,
07:00
really good running game, good receiver, though.
07:02
They don't have very good depth.
07:04
Offensive line's got a couple injuries which concern me.
07:06
Outstanding defensive line.
07:08
They're legit seven deep.
07:10
The one issue I have, though, with this football team,
07:12
they're not strong enough at corner,
07:13
don't have good enough depth.
07:14
Teams will throw against them.
07:16
This is absolutely a team,
07:17
if they can get consistent quarterback play,
07:19
that could push for a wild card.
07:20
I know they're plus 900 to win division.
07:22
They're not winning division.
07:23
That's not going to happen, but to get eight or nine wins,
07:27
I think it's very, very realistic with this roster,
07:31
which, by the way, has been upgraded.
07:32
And Brock Bower's at tight end.
07:34
Scott looks really, really good.
07:36
They're going to be heavy 12 personnel offense,
07:39
two tight ends, and two wide receivers.
07:41
This team's good enough to get a wild card.
07:43
They're going to push for one.
07:45
So one of their strengths is obviously tight ends,
07:48
running backs, wide receivers,
07:49
D-line, the tackle, and then their strengths.
07:52
What are their weaknesses?
07:55
Yeah, other than corner,
07:56
depth at wide receiver concerns me.
07:58
Depth on the offensive line.
07:59
By the way, Jackson Powers-Johnson,
08:01
who's out with a concussion, their second-round pick,
08:03
who's a center guard,
08:05
and that's concerning for me.
08:06
He's not right yet.
08:08
I just mentioned the two injuries on their offensive line.
08:11
They're not very deep.
08:12
So you worry about teams as you get through the season
08:16
and the injuries pile up.
08:17
They've already got injury concerns.
08:19
They're okay at linebacker.
08:21
They're okay at safety.
08:22
Corners of position, Scott,
08:24
they're just not strong enough there.
08:25
And that, to me, is why they're not a lock
08:27
to make the playoffs or a wild card.
08:29
It's probably why they're not a nine- or ten-win team.
08:31
I will say this, though.
08:32
I like their quarterback position.
08:34
It's very, very competitive.
08:36
Aidan O'Connell's an absolute gunslinger,
08:38
and I could tell you, Gardner-Mitchell's super competitive.
08:40
He turned down three or four offers, I'm told,
08:42
to be a backup, and he had one chance to be a starter.
08:44
It was with the Raiders at $12.5 million a year.
08:47
That's pretty good.
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