Brandon Aiyuk rumors heat up following ‘report’ that 49ers WR requested a trade

Amidst a deadlock in ongoing contract negotiations between the San Francisco 49ers and star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, rumors of a potential trade to the Pittsburgh Steelers have been commonplace.

The flames of these rumors were fanned in a big way Sunday morning, when self-dubbed “NFL insider,” John Frascella, shared a report that Aiyuk has officially requested a trade. He also noted that “the Steelers have been the most aggressive in pursuing a trade for Aiyuk, with the Ravens also expressing interest.”

Though there has been plenty of smoke to indicate that could be the case, including the fact that Aiyuk recently unfollowed the 49ers on Instagram, fans should be skeptical of the source of this information. It’s been radio silence from reputable NFL insiders such as Adam Schefter of ESPN, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network or Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report. Though Frascella’s account has been active since June of 2009, his primary affiliation appears to be working as a fantasy football contributor for Razzball.com.

Also worth noting on the rumor mill front was a screenshot shared by Broncos insider Benjamin Allbright on Saturday evening, sharing an “eyes” emoji along with a screenshot of a text message exchange from March 14 stating that the Steelers were attempting to trade for Aiyuk.

Allbright’s reputation as an insider is one worth more serious consideration, though even then, the context of the month’s old text message exchange is lacking. At the annual league meetings in late March, however, 49ers GM John Lynch denied that Aiyuk was available via trade.

Then again, maybe we learned we can’t trust much of what an NFL GM says in the offseason. Steelers GM Omar Khan did just announce his “full faith” in Kenny Pickett before making the move to sign Russell Wilson in free agency and reportedly hand him the starting gig right out of the gate.

All of that is to say… when it comes to the future of Brandon Aiyuk with the 49ers and a potential trade, we don’t really know anything at all.