As the cliché goes, nice guys finish last. 49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk, in officially requesting a trade this week, has figured that out.
There’s another modified saying that has been particularly relevant to the 49ers in recent years.
The squeaky wheel gets the green.
That’s how receiver Deebo Samuel cashed in two years ago. From the outset of the offseason, he agitated. He wanted to be traded. He created the impression he was done with the 49ers.
And it worked.
Last year, defensive end Nick Bosa stayed away until he got paid. And it worked.
Others have gotten paid. Running back Christian McCaffrey, whose squeaking was extremely discreet and generally minimal but nevertheless effective, got paid. Tackle Trent Williams has gotten paid. Most key players from the team that has made it to four conference championships and two Super Bowls have been rewarded.
Those they didn’t want to pay got a fresh start, whether it was defensive tackle DeForest Buckner via trade or defensive lineman Arik Armstead, who was given an ultimatum to take a pay cut or take a hike and choose a fresh start.
Aiyuk falls in a rare category for the Kyle Shanahan/John Lynch 49ers. The 2023 second-team All-Pro clearly deserves more than the $14.1 million he’s due to earn in the fifth year of his rookie deal. They won’t give him what he wants, however. And they won’t trade him to a team that will.
Earlier this year, it seemed as if they were hoping to keep the band together for one more season before figuring out how to reconfigure the roster after the next run at an elusive sixth Super Bowl win.
If that happens, it’ll come against the wishes of Aiyuk, who’s trying to parlay a great performance last year into the contract he believes he deserves.
He was second in the league last year with 12.8 yards per target, racking up 1,342 receiving yards with only 105 passes thrown his way. (Bills receiver Khalil Shakir led the NFL with 13.6, but he had only 611 total receiving yards.)
From Aiyuk’s perspective, what would he do if he got, for example, the 181 targets that went to Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb? What would Aiyuk do with even 150?
The 49ers could find out, perhaps by trading Samuel. Or by trading Aiyuk.
Regardless, Aiyuk decided this week to start squeaking. We’ll see if it works.
If Sam Hartman and five other rookie quarterbacks don’t make it in the NFL, they’ll have an opportunity waiting for him in another league.
Six of the quarterbacks drafted today by the UFL are currently on NFL rosters.
The Birmingham Stallions took Hartman in the ninth round. The Arlington Renegades took UCF quarterback John Rhys Plumlee in round one, the D.C. Defenders took BYU quarterback Kedon Slovis in round two and Wisconsin quarterback Tanner Mordecai in round nine, the Memphis Showboats took Kansas quarterback Jason Bean in round one, the Michigan Panthers took Northern Illinois quarterback Rocky Lombardi in round five, and the St. Louis Battlehawks took San Jose State quarterback Chevan Cordeiro in round one.
Only Cordeiro, who was signed by the Seahawks and released in early May, isn’t currently on an NFL roster.
Hartman signed with the Commanders after the draft. Rhys Plumlee currently is on the Steelers’ roster. Slovis signed with the Colts. Mordecai plays for the 49ers. Bean plays for the Colts. Lombardi plays for the Bengals.
Giants head coach Brian Daboll would have liked to trade up and select quarterback Jayden Daniels in the 2024 NFL draft.
That was revealed during a brief preview for next week’s episode of Hard Knocks, which shows Giants General Manager Joe Schoen asking in a team personnel meeting whether Daniels is worth trading up for, and Daboll answering that he is.
“Daniels: Have you guys seen enough that you would trade up for him?” Schoen asked.
Daboll answered, “Daniels? I would.”
As it turned out, the Commanders drafted Daniels with the second overall pick, and the Giants stayed where they were in the first round and took Daniels’ LSU receiver Malik Nabers with the sixth pick.
Daboll’s willingness to trade up for a quarterback is another indication that the Giants are preparing to move on from Daniel Jones after the 2024 season, unless Jones is a lot healthier and a lot better than he was last year. The Giants couldn’t get Daniels in the 2024 draft, but they know they need an upgrade at quarterback. Perhaps in the 2025 draft.
The Commanders are adding to their front office.
Per Ben Standig of TheAthletic.com, Washington is hiring former Panthers General Manager Scott Fitterer as a personnel executive.
Fitterer spent the last three seasons as Carolina’s G.M. joining the club when Matt Rhule was head coach in 2021. He was fired after the 2023 season, which Carolina finished 2-15.
Before the Panthers hired him, Fitterer was with the Seahawks from 2001-2020 — advancing from area scout to vice president of football operations over that time.
The Commanders hired Adam Peters to be their G.M. in January before bringing on Dan Quinn as head coach.
The Commanders will be sporting uniforms that hearken back to earlier times in the franchise’s history at times this season.
The team announced on Tuesday that they are bringing gold pants back into the fold. The team last wore gold pants in Week 17 of the 2018 season, which was before the name of the team was changed to the Commanders.
Washington regularly wore gold pants through the 1978 season and then used them sparingly until they were brought back as a regular part of the rotation in 2010. The move to bring them back comes during an offseason that has seen some renewed discussion about the team’s name, although switching it is not a primary focus at the moment.
The Commanders did not say when they will be donning the gold pants, but said they plan to release their scheduled uniform choices later this summer.