49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk has requested a trade, NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reports. Aiyuk is entering the final year of his rookie contract and has been angling for an extension all offseason. A recent meeting between Aiyuk's camp and the 49ers produced no progress toward that extension, according to Garafolo. That prompted Aiyuk to make this trade request.
We'll see where this goes, but there's still nearly two months until the start of the season. The 49ers have little motivation to trade Aiyuk now, so the most likely scenario still has Aiyuk playing for San Francisco this year. ESPN's Adam Schefter hears that teams that have reached out to the 49ers have been told that the team has "no intention" of trading him.
There's at least some possibility that this spills into the season and Aiyuk misses games. We'd consider it unlikely, but it adds some risk to Aiyuk's current fantasy outlook.
A trade could be good news for his fantasy value. Although HC Kyle Shanahan's 49ers have one of the most efficient passing games in the league, it's a low-volume passing game with stiff target competition. Aiyuk has ranked just 25th and 30th among WRs in targets the past two seasons. A move elsewhere would likely bring a significant boost in volume, which would help offset any loss in efficiency.
We're not moving Aiyuk in the WR rankings and won't for a while. If he's still away from the team deep into August, it'll be time to starting bumping him down.
This trade request might make Aiyuk cheaper in fantasy drafts, which would be welcomed news. His current 2.11 consensus ADP is pricey. Aiyuk sits WR14 in ADP vs. WR18 in the Draft Sharks rankings.
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