Brandon Aiyuk reveals real reason he re-signed with 49ers

By now, most have heard the story, reported by Jay Glazer of Fox Sports, about how the San Francisco 49ers signed star receiver Brandon Aiyuk to a four-year, $120M contract extension just days before the regular season began.

As Aiyuk was conceding to head coach Kyle Shanahan that he wanted to stay in San Francisco, 49ers general manager was on the phone trying to trade him to the Pittsburgh Steelers — a deal that was ultimately nixed once Aiyuk agreed to sign the contract extension that had been in front of him for weeks.

During a recent appearance on Deebo Samuel’s “Cleats and Convos” podcast, Aiyuk admitted what the real reason was for him having a change of heart on his trade request and deciding he wanted to stay put in the Bay Area.

“Just being with my people, the people that I know, the people I’ve been around the past four years, the people that I’ve got see have kids, see their kids grow up a little bit, they got to see me have kids,” Aiyuk said. “So, just really just sticking with the family.”