Darren Yamashita-Imagn-Images

On Sunday, FOX Sports insider Jay Glazer shared just how close the San Francisco 49ers were to trading wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. According to Glazer, the team was in the final stages of a trade deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers on the day Aiyuk signed his contract extension.

Glazer explained that Aiyuk arrived at the 49ers facility early that day and met with head coach Kyle Shanahan. Once he realized that Aiyuk wanted to stay with the team, Shanahan quickly tried to shut down trade talks. However, he was unable to reach the front office because they were already on the phone with the Steelers.

“So Shanahan ran all the way up there and said, ‘Hold on. Put these trade talks on hold right now. Pittsburgh, we’ll call you back,'” Glazer continued. “They went down and talked to Aiyuk for about two hours. They said, ‘Look, you have until the end of practice. We’ll trade you to Pittsburgh today or you can take the deal that’s on the table. It’s up to you, but you have until the end of practice.'”

Following the 49ers’ 32-19 win over the New York Jets on Monday night, Shanahan confirmed Glazer’s report but did not go into details. When asked if the story was true, he replied, “Most of it, yeah.”

When pressed for details, including how he ran upstairs to stop the trade, Shanahan said, “I wanted to make sure he hadn’t been traded yet. But no, that’s what I’ve been reporting to you all along. You’ve been asking me about it and I’m like, ‘Anything can happen.’ There were reports that we almost traded with some teams but we didn’t. Some were true, some weren’t, but all options were open.”

Ultimately, Aiyuk stayed with the 49ers and Shanahan was relieved with the outcome.

“It was a tough job to get to last place on both sides,” Shanahan admitted. “And when it was all said and done, I’m glad we had the patience. I’m glad it worked out the way it did because I love having BA here.”

Aiyuk closed Monday night’s game with two catches for 28 yards against the Jets.