Mia O'Brien, a reporter for Jacksonville radio station 1010XL, seemingly reports some "mutual" interest between San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and the Jaguars (h/t Grant Cohn of Sports Illustrated).
Aiyuk is slated to play on his fifth-year option. However, the 49ers would like to sign the receiver to a long-term contract extension before he retakes the football field.
Aiyuk was San Francisco's leading receiver last season, amassing a career-high 1,342 receiving yards and seven touchdowns on 75 catches. It was his second consecutive year surpassing the 1,000-receiving-yard mark.
San Francisco drafted Aiyuk (6-0, 205) out of Arizona State with the No. 25 overall pick in 2020. If the two sides cannot agree on an extension, he is set to earn a guaranteed salary of $14.124 million in 2025, assuming he decides to play on the fifth-year option.
There has been some question regarding Aiyuk's commitment to returning to the 49ers. After the team's Super Bowl defeat last month, the receiver stated he would be open to the possibility, saying, "If that's the right move, yeah."
General manager John Lynch was asked about the contract situation with Aiyuk at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
"We have some challenges," Lynch stated. "We have a lot of good players, a lot of good players who we've rewarded. Brandon's one that we think incredibly highly of, one of my favorite guys around our building, the way he approaches the game. He's a competitor. He's a warrior. He plays with such physicality, also with grace, in the way some of the positions his body can get into.
"And then he's got a flair for making plays when [they] matter most, and he's served us very well as a franchise. And I think we've got a nice track record of extending the players that are important to us, and Brandon's a guy we want to keep around for a long time."
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