Brandon Aiyuk’s towering contract might be heading to Houston in a deal that changes everything for the 49ers.QQ
San Francisco could get a huge weight off its shoulders.
Houston Texans v San Francisco 49ers | Ezra Shaw/GettyImages
The San Francisco 49ers are looking for ways to improve their defense ahead of the NFL trade deadline. They could add a key defender while also offloading wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk’s onerous contract in a big trade with the Houston Texans.
The Niners signed Aiyuk to a four-year, $120 million extension after 2023, only to see him get hurt with a major knee injury during the 2024 season, which has kept him out ever since. San Francisco has remained murky on a timeline for his return, so it is unclear when he could be back.
That big contract extension looks worse and worse with each game that he misses, so if the 49ers were able to find a trade partner and work out a deal with a team that would land them a solid defender in return, they would likely leap at that chance especially since the team will be without linebacker Fred Warner and edge rusher Nick Bosa for the rest of the year.
Enter the Houston Texans.
Texans offer 49ers a unique ‘out’ from Brandon Aiyuk
Houston is 2-4 on the season and finds itself looking up at both the Jacksonville Jaguars and Indianapolis Colts in the AFC South.
Quarterback C.J. Stroud continues to regress after he looked solid in his rookie season a few years ago, and the team’s passing offense has been dismal, averaging just 198.2 passing yards per game.
Meanwhile, Houston’s defense has been phenomenal allowing just 17.7 points per game on average, which is the best mark of any team in the NFL.
Perhaps Houston would be willing to part ways with a key player on defense in exchange for Aiyuk, who could potentially be ready to return to action soon. Stroud could use another weapon to throw to, and Aiyuk has proven he can be an elite NFL receiver.
The Niners could target linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, a guy who began his career with the 49ers and developed alongside Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw in Robert Saleh’s defense. Al-Shaair has 38 tackles on the season and one forced fumble in six games played. He could help fill the void left by Warner at linebacker even though Tatum Bethune and Dee Winters did a very nice job in his absence against the Atlanta Falcons.
Even if the Niners did move Aiyuk in exchange for Al-Shaair, they would still have Ricky Pearsall, Jauan Jennings, and Kendrick Bourne not to mention tight end George Kittle so they would not be completely gutting their pass catching corps.
This big trade could really help both teams out with what their current needs are and would have the added benefit for San Francisco of offloading a contract they probably wish they had never given to Aiyuk.
