This offseason, it seems highly likely that we will see a total reset of the wide receiver market. While the crop of free agent wideouts did not necessarily include any of the true top-10 players at the position, there are several extension-eligible players included in that group. Each of Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb and Ja'Marr Chase is widely considered to be among the small handful of best receivers in the NFL, and they can (and should) all get paid this offseason.
Another player who could be thought of perhaps just as highly as those players if only his team's passing offense was a higher-volume one, and if his team didn't also have elite threats at running back, tight end, and the other receiver spot, is Brandon Aiyuk. Aiyuk is coming off a Second Team All-Pro season during which he caught 75 passes for 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns. He's now posted back-to-back 75-plus-catch, 1,000-plus-yard, seven-plus touchdown campaigns.
He didn't command the same type of volume as the other three, but he ranked ahead of all of them in yards per route run, checking in third in the NFL at 3.06, according to TruMedia. And he's looking to get paid this offseason as well.
"I'm trying to get what I deserve," Aiyuk said during an appearance on the Nightcap podcast with Shannon Sharpe and Chad Ochocinco. "I feel like this season, this season playing football, I figured out who I was as a person and a player, what I bring to the table, what I bring to the locker room, what I bring to the organization. And just the value I hold when I walk in that building. People going to follow me because I've done it the right way since I've been in that building. From the first day I walked in there to when I was in there earlier this morning. I've done it the right way.
"If they don't see the worth in that [makes a walking motion with hands], that's all it is. It ain't nothing else besides that. I can't get into it. We got professionals working on both sides, so hopefully, we can come to a professional agreement and continue playing professional football."
The 49ers are of course already paying Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle and Deebo Samuel a bunch of money, along with Nick Bosa, Trent Williams and Fred Warner. But when a 26-year-old star wide receiver comes up for an extension, that's the type of player you should probably try to keep. It will be fascinating to see if the 49ers agree, and where Aiyuk's contract comes in, whether or not they do.
