As ongoing contract negotiations between the San Francisco 49ers and star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk stall, rumors of a possible move to the Pittsburgh Steelers have become commonplace.
These rumors were fueled in a big way Sunday morning when self-proclaimed “NFL insider” John Frasella shared a report that Aiyuk had formally requested a trade. He also said, “The Steelers are the most active in trading Aiyuk, with the Ravens also showing interest.” There are numerous rumors pointing to this possibility, including Aiyuk recently unfollowing the 49ers on Instagram, but fans should be skeptical of the source of this information.
There was radio silence from prominent NFL officials, including ESPN’s Adam Schefter, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz. Mr. Frasella’s account has been active since June 2009, but his main affiliations seem to be that he works as a fantasy football contributor for Razzball.com.
Also worth mentioning among the rumors is a screenshot shared by Broncos official Benjamin Albright on Saturday night, March 14, stating that the Steelers are looking to counter a trade for Aiyuk. She shared an “eyes” emoji along with a screenshot of her text message on the day.
Albright’s reputation as an insider deserves more serious consideration, even if the context of his old SMS exchange this month is lacking. However, at the league’s annual meeting in late March, 49ers GM John Lynch denied that Aiyuk could be acquired in a trade. Then again, perhaps we’ve learned that you can’t trust much of what NFL GMs say in the offseason. Before signing Russell Wilson in free agency, Steelers GM Omar Khan reportedly declared he had “full confidence” in Kenny Pickett and immediately gave him the starting job.
