Some would argue that 49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk’s success is a product of the team’s offense and having a lot of great teammates. His teammate George Kittle wouldn’t say that.
Appearing on NFL Network Monday, the 49ers tight end argued in favor of giving Aiyuk the contract he earned.
“Aiyuk is simply a phenomenal football player.” , Kittle said, via NFL.com. “He does everything you want him to do as a receiver, including catching touchdowns from me every once in a while, which I’m totally fine with. But he’s just such a dynamic receiver and he’s just a really important part of our offense. So, yeah, giving Brandon Aiyuk the money he deserves — I wouldn’t expect anything better for him. There’s not much I can do to help him through that, unfortunately, other than cheer him on from the sidelines and hopefully we can figure it out because he’s one of my favorite teammates I’ve ever had.”
Beyond considering Aiyuk a great teammate, Kittle also thinks Aiyuk is a great player.
“When you have a receiver who can run all the routes, catch all the tough balls, get open at the right time, but also attack the run game, block whoever you want him to block, you see all his strengths in the run game,” Kittle said. “When you have a guy who does all that stuff and sets the tempo and the tone, those guys are really important to your offense.”
The 49ers are certainly willing, but they don’t want to give Aiyuk what he wants. Even after five teams, as we reported, were willing to pay him what he wanted and trade him, the 49ers wouldn’t budge.
We’ll see what happens soon. Will they find a deal? Will they trade him? Will he hold up? Will he hold on?
