I don’t think anyone will be lining up to pay Aiyuk much given his knee and this mess in SF. If AP wants to give him a shot, I think you pay him very little and make him grovel for it and be an exemplary citizen, he’ll need to prove it to the league and will want somewhere familiar to do it. If he balls out, great problem to have, we might be more ready to start the comp pick carousel by then if we don’t want to pay him. If he’s a pain in the ass, you move on. And you don’t let rostering him change your process on draft pick selection at all if there’s a highly graded WR available.
But we’re too bereft of talent to turn our noses up at opportunities. And he’ll want us more than we want him, which is a power position we’re rarely in.
Homework must be done, though.
Whichever way this turns, I am not sweating it. Peters has been far from perfect, but he's been mostly very good in FA. He drafted Aiyuk, he should know him well. So injury-personality whatever the dynamics are, I'll leave him to figure it out. I don't not have a strong opinion from afar aside from I am not going to guess the varaibles at play. But I'll just say from a distance, as someone who recalls watching and reading about Aiyuk predraft, he was not one of the red flag personaities that I recall. I even remember reading good things about him as a dude in SF. So I went digging just now on that front.
I equate from a distance Aiyuk with Deebo on this front -- pouting about their contracts (Terry style). SF is known to be very stubborn on that front and Kyle himself not always the easiest dude to get along with. Deebo with the more wacky questionable character episide with the blow up with the kicker on the sidelines.
Aiyuk to me though like Deebo was part of that tough culture as far as running the ball-blocking. He, Deebo, and Jennings are blocking ballers who put their body out there for the good of the team. Jennings the on;y one left of the group. And lol, Jennings also like Deebo and Aiyuk whined openly about being underpaid and I gather will leave in FA.
But all three WRs, Aiyuk, Deebo, and Jennings are tone setters as players. Do I like the pouting from all three about being underpaid and want out -- Terry style? Nope. Is it a deal breaker for me? Nope. We are hopefuily are in a SB window. Signing guys that are hungry to prove themselves and are angry at their previous employer -- might not be a bad thing. But either way i am not making a hard decision from my couch on this. Fortunately, we got a GM who knows these players way better than we do.
Brandon Aiyuk's work ethic in Reno — along with the lucky ladybug — help 49ers advance to Super Bowl
Coaches who knew Aiyuk as a young football player in Reno say his work ethic and determination have gotten him this far.
Derek Bennett, whose son Kaiden Bennett grew up with Aiyuk — along with Bennett’s nephews the Ngata brothers, Joseph, Daniel and Ariel — said they all looked up to Aiyuk.
“He's just a really good person outside of being an outstanding football player.
Brandon's work ethic really stands out more anything.
ANN KILLION: The saga is an even weirder twist to this already bizarre season has ramifications for both Brandon Aiyuk’s and the 49ers’ reputations.
Aiyuk could be poised for a breakout year three
www.cbssports.com
49ers' Kyle Shanahan compares Brandon Aiyuk's work ethic this offseason to Deebo Samuel
Aiyuk becomes the first Sierra alum to play in the Super Bowl since Dan Bunz, who won two titles with the 49ers and made one of the most memorable stops against Charles Alexander of the Cincinnati Bengals to help secure a victory in Super Bowl XVI.
goldcountrymedia.com
From Sierra to the Super Bowl: How Brandon Aiyuk's work ethic has made him an NFL All-Pro
Brandon Aiyuk's work ethic has put him on the NFL's biggest stage and made him an All-Pro
Aiyuk's stardom comes as no surprise to Sierra football coach Ben Noonan, who felt the wide receiver was underrecruited the moment he stepped foot on the Rocklin campus. It didn’t take long for Aiyuk to prove him right.
“We had three wide receivers go to Division I schools that year that were sophomores. We had a loaded group of wideouts, but he still managed to break through and win a starting job in week three,” Noonan recalled of Aiyuk’s freshman year. “Three months out of high school and he earned a starting job with that group.”
Noonan said Aiyuk’s maturity and work ethic showed almost immediately, noting how he never missed a practice or a meeting and was never late in two years at Sierra.
“He loved to practice. That's one thing that stood out to me. You get guys with extreme talent level and ability and they're not always the greatest practice players. That wasn’t the case with Brandon,” Noonan said. “We've been fortunate at Sierra College. We have a pretty good culture where those guys tend to weed themselves out if they're not showing up to work every day and he helped establish that culture.”
Noonan added he knew Aiyuk had Division I FBS talent from the start. The same day he committed to Arizona State, Noonan received a call from Alabama to offer Aiyuk as a defensive back, but he wanted to go where he could play receiver.
Aiyuk had plenty of opportunities to skip a practice or sit one out, but his competitive drive took over and he could never bring himself to take a day off.
“There would be a day or two on a Tuesday after a game week where the trainers would suggest that you take the day off, which is not uncommon for a lot of guys at this level,” Noonan said. “Brandon refused to miss a day when it was really easy and laid out for him by the training staff. He just wouldn’t do it.”
...“There were a couple of penalties that took two of his touchdowns off the board, but what he did was insane,” Noonan said. “I played at Santa Rosa so it was a homecoming game for me and it wasn’t long after my mom had passed so it was really emotional that game. He knew that going into the game and that performance he put on was incredible. He's just a really good kid.”
Noonan said he and Aiyuk still have a relationship and he even serves as a role model for Noonan’s 13-year-old son Benny.
“We'll talk a lot to him in the offseason about football and about school and he’s just great to my son, little Benny. He doesn't always listen to dad but get Brandon on the phone and he listens to him,” Noonan said. “Even if he is saying the same thing that I am.”
Aiyuk getting drafted by the 49ers was a special moment for Noonan, who grew up a lifelong fan of the team.
“Growing up Sunday mornings as a young kid, watching the Niners at my grandma's double wide are some of my best memories,” Noonan said. “When they drafted Brandon, I couldn't tell you how happy I was. He was staying with the hometown team and that’s just an incredible experience for him and his family.”
Asked what it means for Sierra to have a player like Aiyuk as an alum of the program, Noonan said, “It's incredible. It's awesome. It's something our program is extremely proud of and he is proud of. It just shows these guys that he sat in the same seats in history and math class that they're sitting in. He went through the same type of program and culture building that we still do today. We are so proud of him.”
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