‘Chicken s—t’: Even NFL insiders are beginning to turn against 49ers’ Brandon Aiyuk.
For nearly five months, since the 49ers’ Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk has been masterfully attempting to annoy his way out of the final year of his contract with San Francisco.
He claimed the 49ers “don’t want me back” in a clearly staged TikTok video, sent fans into a frenzy with a series of cryptic social media posts (many involving Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, Aiyuk’s close friend and former college teammate), and formally requested a trade two weeks ago. Last week, he adopted the new trend of a “hold-in,” where he attends Niners training camp to avoid fines but refuses to participate in activities, rather than holding out for a new contract by skipping team functions.
At least one NFL insider appears to be fed up with the entire situation.
Aiyuk is set to earn $14.1 million this season, the final year of his rookie contract. According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, he wants to earn as much as the league’s top wide receivers, roughly double his current salary.
“Understand your value,” three-time Super Bowl champion and current Fox Sports football analyst Mark Schlereth said on his podcast last week. “… Brandon Aiyuk, understand where you are. Hey, do you deserve to get paid? Yeah, you deserve to get paid. But do you deserve to be a top-10 paid wide receiver in the National Football League? Absolutely not.”
When asked by co-host Mike Evans about Aiyuk and others’ decision to “hold in,” Schlereth did not hold back.
“I think it’s chicken s—t,” he said. “Drop a set of nuts and don’t show up. Or show up and, if you’re gonna show up and you’re gonna be around your teammates and you’re gonna be in the locker room, don’t let them go out and do all the work while you just sit around. Either have the balls to sit out or come to camp and participate. I think this ‘sit in’ stuff feels toothless to me.”
Schlereth continued by expressing respect for Aiyuk’s right to sit out and negotiate a bigger contract, but he emphasized that Aiyuk doesn’t warrant a top-10 wide receiver salary, especially considering he isn’t even among the top three ball-handlers on his own team.
“He’s a good, solid player in a really good system,” Schlereth noted. “But if I were ranking the value of players on the San Francisco 49ers offense … if you look at the ball-handlers in San Francisco, where does he rank? In terms of importance, where is he? Christian McCaffrey would be No. 1, then I’d say probably Deebo Samuel at No. 2, then George Kittle at No. 3, followed by Brandon Aiyuk, and then probably Kyle Juszczyk.”
According to multiple reports, the 49ers are unfazed by the social media noise or the “sit in,” and have made it clear they don’t plan on trading Aiyuk. Garafolo reported that the 49ers last made an offer to Aiyuk in May, in the $26 million-per-year range.
