Not that long ago, the New England Patriots were a dynasty and the top organization in the NFL. It just seems like that was a long time ago.
There’s another chapter in the ongoing Brandon Aiyuk trade drama. There was a report that the San Francisco 49ers and Patriots had agreed to a framework of a trade, then suddenly another report said the Patriots were taking themselves out of the Aiyuk trade discussion. Yet another report helped explain the situation.
According to Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area, who broke the news of the 49ers having trade framework in place with Aiyuk and the Patriots but were waiting on Aiyuk to accept contract terms from either team. Maiocco wrote that Aiyuk “did not show interest in going” to New England. Maiocco added that there was a trade agreement in place between the teams and the Patriots had “a large offer to Aiyuk on the table,” which was $30 million per season according to a story on the NBC Sports Bay Area site. And Aiyuk apparently wasn’t interested. Ouch.
That would explain how the story unfolded a little better. The Patriots basically broke up with Aiyuk before he could break up with them, so to speak. Aiyuk didn’t want to go to New England, so the Patriots got out in front of the story and said they decided to take themselves out of trade talks for Aiyuk. It didn’t make sense that the Patriots could have a deal in place and make a reported large offer to Aiyuk and then suddenly decide they wanted to focus on their young receivers, but everything makes more sense if Aiyuk spurned them.
New England was on top of the NFL world for most of the 2010s, but it has fallen hard. The Patriots’ roster is among the worst in the NFL. They do have a young new quarterback in first-round pick Drake Maye but they’re not close to being a contender. It would make sense if Aiyuk hesitated on going from a Super Bowl contender in the 49ers to the rebuilding Patriots.
The Aiyuk trade saga still isn’t done. The Browns are lingering. The Pittsburgh Steelers reportedly got back in the discussion on Tuesday. It will still all depend on Aiyuk agreeing to a contract with his new team, and as the Patriots found out, that’s no sure thing.