Brandon Aiyuk will play for the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night against the New York Jets after an offseason-long standoff with the team that included months of trade rumors. But how close was Aiyuk to playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers instead this season?

In mid-August, it was widely reported that the 49ers and Steelers had agreed, or at least come close, to a trade that would send Aiyuk to Pittsburgh. A few days later, however, Aiyuk formally signed a four-year, $120 million contract extension to remain with the 49ers. As it turned out, Aiyuk was indeed close to going to Pittsburgh, and it took a chance meeting with head coach Kyle Shanahan — and Shanahan’s running skills — to keep a trade from being officially finalized, FOX Sports NFL insider Jay Glazer reported on “FOX NFL Sunday.”

“The day (Aiyuk’s extension) was actually up, the 49ers traded him to the Pittsburgh Steelers,” Glazer said. “He was already on his way, and then all of a sudden Aiyuk showed up at the facility early that day and went down to meet with Shanahan.”

The message Aiyuk was communicating to Shanahan was apparently that he wanted to stay in the Bay Area, where he’s flourished in his career under a head coach regarded as one of the best offensive minds in the game. But when Shanahan tried to spread the word, there was a problem.

“Kyle Shanahan tried to get in touch with the front office, but they couldn’t take his call because they were trying to close the deal with the Steelers. So Shanahan ran all the way upstairs (and said), ‘Hold on a minute. Let’s put these trade talks on hold for a moment. Pittsburgh, we’ll call you back.’ (49ers officials) 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.'”

Aiyuk quickly decided to stay with the 49ers. Now, the man who had a career-best 1,342 receiving yards and a Super Bowl run last season looks set to once again play a major role in Shanahan’s loaded offense in 2024.

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