- 2 days ago
Washington Commanders Reporter Ben Standig from The Last Man Standig Podcast and Substack joins The Kevin Sheehan Show to give his thoughts on the Brandon Aiyuk social media posts from over the weekend and what it could mean in regards to his current standing with the 49ers.
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00:00Ben's latest Substack column is titled,
00:03If Washington trusts its receivers, why won't the Brandon Iyuk rumors die?
00:10Yeah, well, Brandon's participating in keeping everything alive
00:15with the three Instagram posts that we talked a lot about
00:19in the first hour plus of this show.
00:23So if they trust so much in the receivers they have,
00:28why won't the Brandon Iyuk rumors die?
00:32Yeah, well, you know, what is, this is such a fascinating story.
00:39Obviously it's interesting for us,
00:40particularly because Washington seems to be involved,
00:42but it's so interesting in that, in this era where there's constant news
00:48or like, you know, this is interesting with like the aggregators and stuff,
00:53or the people you question, like who is this person?
00:55Like nobody is reporting almost anything on this topic.
00:58Because nobody, I guess, is saying anything.
01:00Iyuk has largely been MIA, although last few days he's posted some semi-cryptic
01:05Instagram posts, although one he's wearing the commander's hat.
01:09So there's like no information for anybody to tangibly do much with,
01:14and therefore you can't just randomly say, oh, services say X, Y, or Z,
01:17because everybody would know that's nonsense at this point
01:20because nothing is being said.
01:22I guess my sort of larger point is, like, we all assume that he's coming to Washington.
01:27That's been the general assumption, even though, you know, I've discussed that, man,
01:32it is a really hard one to wrap your head around why this would be the case,
01:37considering everything that he has gone, he has done or gone through the last year and change.
01:41And I get that the commanders can't say anything publicly about wanting him.
01:47They could end it the other way.
01:50They could tell somebody, hey, according to sources, even though they're connected to,
01:56you know, to Brandon Iyuk, Washington does not intend on pursuing the receiver, dot, dot, dot.
02:02And we all get it that if he's healthy, if he is right, it's a significant upgrade.
02:08But at the same time, you know, when we ask questions about the receiver room,
02:11everybody says they like the receiver room.
02:12If they really like the receiver room, then this should be a moot story, right?
02:16Because the level of wild card that he provides or that he would bring is, you know, is a lot.
02:23So, you know, I understand that they may want to bring in another receiver,
02:28but in this particular case, if they really don't want to, why not just say something?
02:33But therefore, I'm assuming they do want to.
02:35And, you know, that's why it's like, well, wait, how much do you really like your receiver room?
02:41Yeah, I mean, two things that you said.
02:43Number one, you're right.
02:45There hasn't really been any reporting on any of this.
02:49There have been guesses.
02:50There have been columns written with the expectation that it'll happen.
02:54No reporting other than the report that the Santa Clara, you know,
02:58police are issuing a warrant for a misdemeanor violation back in December.
03:06And then even his, you know, now a week long in front of everybody via social media is,
03:16you know, not reporting.
03:18It's just, you know, him expressing his frustration, especially with that video on Instagram
03:25about the way the 49ers are handling this.
03:28Although all he would have to do perhaps is show up for the first day of training camp.
03:33We'll see what happens.
03:33That's really like the next day since their minicamp is canceled.
03:37That may be significant.
03:38So that's number one.
03:40You're 100% right.
03:40There's no reporting on this.
03:42I mean, you've had people on from San Francisco.
03:44I've had people on from San Francisco.
03:46They don't know anything.
03:48Even the people that have been in that market forever that would have some sort of clue.
03:53They don't know anything about this situation.
03:57And then your second point is a really good one, which is while, you know, the,
04:03you're not going to get it from one end that Washington is interested because they're not allowed to.
04:09That's, you know, that starts to, you know, uh, get into the tampering area.
04:15Um, but if they weren't interested, they'd literally just leak that to somebody.
04:21And there would be a report that somebody's learned that Washington has no interest in
04:25pursuing Brandon Iyuk if, and when he becomes available and that hasn't happened yet.
04:30So, uh, that's, that's probably the most telling thing, which, which leads, I think everybody
04:37to, to, to believe something may happen when, and if, well, he's going to be, uh, released
04:43at some point.
04:44Um, but the question is when, and, and I, I did, uh, last hour, Ben, I did, uh, you know,
04:5220 minutes of calls on, you know, after his Instagram post, when essentially he is accusing
04:57the 49ers of being petty and childish, um, you know, do you think the 49ers are being
05:03petty and childish kind of yes or no?
05:06Um, what do you think?
05:09I mean, I do think they're sticking it to them, but at the same point, like without knowing
05:15exactly how there's a whole thing broke down, like part of the reason why I think you and
05:20I are saying that there's a lot of questions about Brandon Iyuk is that the 49ers, uh, removed
05:25a ton of guaranteed money from his contract because he failed according to them to meet
05:31certain requirements of his contract.
05:33And then he, nor the NFL PA pursued legal recourse on this.
05:38So that is very odd, right?
05:41So based on that alone, it seems as if he's willing to accept that he did something to
05:46blow this and the 49ers are, you know, obviously they signed this guy for good money.
05:51They could have traded him earlier in his career and got a lot back.
05:55So I guess the 49ers like, Hey, we, we agreed to this deal.
05:58You completely screwed something up here.
06:00So why are we in what, why do we have to do anything?
06:03I mean, do we think they're going to trade him?
06:05No, but why, why not?
06:08They have, there's no harm for them, I guess.
06:10Right.
06:10As long as he doesn't show up and sort of force their hand as to either accept him being
06:17in their facility.
06:18And therefore, if he gets hurt, they're now stuck with him or cut him out.
06:21Right.
06:22Um, why do they need to do anything?
06:24Like I, I totally get it.
06:26I mean, it may sting from a human being perspective, but you know, I mean, look, we see people all
06:31the time that have like non-compete, uh, deals and contracts.
06:35I know that's not exactly this, but like, you know, you, you get let go, but you still can't
06:39work for X amount of months.
06:41We see this all the time in sports media and elsewhere.
06:44So it, it, it, it, it does happen.
06:47They're under no obligation to do anything.
06:49Uh, but it is also the point of if Washington really is going to pursue him, does there become
06:54a point of, Hey, we can't have, you know, if you've got to get here until halfway through
06:59training camp, September one, is it worth it at that point?
07:03Because he's, you know, he's got to learn this whole thing.
07:05Plus they got to figure out to whatever degree he's good to go or not.
07:09So, uh, the longer this track is, I have the worst for Washington, but I don't really
07:13completely blame San Francisco because based on everything we know, they are not necessarily
07:18at fault here.
07:20Yeah.
07:20That's my position.
07:21And it has been my position.
07:22And, and the more and more we see from him and you know, uh, it's, this is not the best
07:30way for him to go about getting released, um, is to, you know, post Instagram videos, criticizing
07:37the organization.
07:39No, I'm with you.
07:39I, I, based on what I know, and we don't know enough, but we do know that, uh, the situation
07:45with respect to the voided, uh, dollars in his contract is unprecedented.
07:50And the fact that neither he nor his agent nor his legal representation, the representation
07:56or the NFL PA, the union have gone after that money is also unprecedented.
08:02And it's an indication that he's in the wrong as it relates to what he was supposed to do
08:09contractually.
08:10And at the same time, and I don't think I've emphasized this enough, the 49ers, it's not
08:14like they haven't paid him.
08:16You know, they, they, they paid him on, on the moment that he signed the deal back in 2024,
08:21they paid him 23 million bucks.
08:24They've got about 40 million into him, you know, through these first two seasons.
08:29It's not like they haven't paid him generational wealth kind of, uh, money and they've got
08:35nothing back except for a pain in the ass, uh, based on what we know.
08:41Now there's a lot we don't know.
08:42And, you know, somebody made the point earlier, we do know that the Shanahan's, you know, have
08:48the ability, uh, to be, you know, tough, strict, petty even.
08:54Um, but no, from, from what we know, if it were my team, I'd absolutely hold onto him
09:01until I couldn't hold onto him anymore.
09:04I guess the real issue will be if he were to really want to get cut and have the ability
09:09to go somewhere, he'd show up for the first day of training camp.
09:13And then it'll be interesting to see what happens at that point.
09:16Right.
09:18Yeah, no, uh, a hundred, a hundred percent.
09:22And, you know, you listed the different ways he could have pursued legal recourse or who
09:27were the different people that could have helped him, including his agent.
09:29You know, I had heard at one point, this was a few weeks ago, that even the agent didn't
09:35seem to know exactly what was going on here.
09:37Right.
09:37Okay.
09:37So this, his actions here speak of somebody who was not either listening to his agent or
09:43is not communicating with his agent.
09:45Right.
09:45So that's like another element to this.
09:47He's just seemingly going rogue.
09:50This isn't, I mean, like, why would you not just show up for OTAs?
09:54Like the 49ers, by the way, there, there is nothing funnier than seeing people on social
09:59media say that the 49ers canceled mandatory mini camp because of IU in spite of IU.
10:05So he couldn't show up.
10:06You gotta be kidding me.
10:07They're really going to, they're really going to limit the amount of work that they can
10:12do with 89, 90 other players as they're trying to pursue a Superbowl.
10:15Get out of here.
10:16That is insane.
10:17Not only that, it's not, they're, they're certainly not the first team to cancel mini
10:20camp here in recent years.
10:22Yeah.
10:22I mean, they're largely a veteran team, whatever.
10:24I don't know what's going on.
10:25They seem to be happy with it.
10:26So be it.
10:27So that's nuts.
10:28But, um, but yeah, he could have shown up to OTAs, right?
10:31I mean, he could have done this already.
10:33So why, why didn't he?
10:35I think, you know, this whole thing is just, you know,
10:37so bonkers, which again, goes back to the point of, I, we all understand the potential
10:43upside, but based on what we know, and admittedly, we don't know as much as Adam Peters and Jaden
10:48Daniels and others, I guess, but man, it is, it is bizarre that this would even be something
10:55that would be on the radar.
10:57And by the way, like, you know, I do believe that like it, with a, with a big roster, the
11:02way NFL teams have, you know, you can, if you have a good, if you have a right type of
11:08locker room, you can have a couple of guys who are a little bit quirky, let's say, uh, and you
11:14could see certain organizations who might be more willing to go this route.
11:18Kansas city, right.
11:19Has been willing to be a bit rogue with some of their, uh, additions in years.
11:23These guys have done nothing but preach culture, culture, culture.
11:27So it just seems odd that this is the guy that they're going to bring in here.
11:31I would have questioned even Stefan digs to a degree, but okay.
11:34He seems like he obviously produces a lot.
11:37Seems like he got, he, he, he showed himself fine in new England.
11:41I'm maybe in the past, he wore it as welcome.
11:42So, okay.
11:43I guess I get that risk you're, you're taking, if it's a risk, you're taking it on a guy
11:47who was actually produced.
11:48He has of his last eight seasons.
11:51He has seven 1000 yard years.
11:52And the only one he didn't get it was because he got hurt.
11:56That is a risk.
11:57I get this one.
11:58I mean, we're not even talking about the fact that.
12:01I assume he's healthy and ready to back from his knee that got torn, but I can't say
12:07definitively.
12:08Right.
12:08And so, yeah, the, the, the variables here are just so odd that if Washington was just
12:13wanted to end this, they could just put it out there and ended, but I guess they're going
12:18to go keep going forward with this.
12:20Yeah.
12:21I mean, you know, if, if you, if you created a roster without anybody that had bad judgment
12:27or limited intellect or, uh, you know, uh, no ego, um, or, um, nurse narcissistic, you
12:36know, tendencies, you wouldn't be able to put together an NFL roster.
12:41So you have a lot of that scattered throughout the league.
12:45You know, there aren't a lot of rocket scientists in, in the, in professional sports.
12:49And, you know, there are a lot of, of people that make a lot of bad judgment, you know,
12:53if somebody's talented though, and he is, you'll get opportunities, especially if the
12:59team doesn't have to risk much.
13:01And that's the thing I keep coming back to is if they get the physical clearance and they're,
13:07you know, okay with his mental stability, there's no risk in a one year prove it deal.
13:13Uh, that's all base salary.
13:16You're not, I mean, no signing bonus upfront, it's base salary and a lot of incentives.
13:21Um, you know, on that, if, if they came to that conclusion, I I'd feel like there's some,
13:27like there are enough adults in the building.
13:30This isn't the Snyder, you know, run organization where he he'd be frothing at the mouth right
13:37now for IU to get cut so he could sign them.
13:40Uh, and by the way, he wouldn't even give IU approve it deal.
13:43He'd give them a bunch of guaranteed money and sign them to like a four year guaranteed deal.
13:48Um, but I, I, I think at some point we're just going to have to trust if they sign them
13:52that they've crossed all T's and dotted all I's.
13:56Right.
13:57Yeah, no, a hundred, a hundred percent.
13:59Like I said, it's important to know that regardless of any criticisms or questions
14:03that I have or others have, we don't know that that's, you know, that's just the reality.
14:07Adam Peters was there with San Francisco when they drafted him.
14:10Jaden Daniels obviously played with him, uh, back in 2019 at Arizona state.
14:15So they have relationships with this guy.
14:17Peters of course worked for many years in the 49ers organization.
14:21So he surely knows what's been happening with, with IU just, you know,
14:25over the last, um, you know, year and change.
14:29So he, they're, they're aware of the situation.
14:31I know they're not blind to anything.
14:36Okay.
14:36So it is a big leap of faith that they are taking.
14:39And I guess, to your point, it's one that we collectively sort of have to take with them
14:44because, you know, uh, by and large, they seem to know they seem to have been doing a pretty
14:49good job over the last couple of years.
14:50I know the last season obviously was a disaster from a record perspective, but you know, most
14:54of the moves they have made have been, you know, reasonable, understandable, et cetera.
14:59So yeah, we have to buy in that they know what, what's way more here than we do.
15:06I would, you know, I just, here's a, here's a question for you because you brought up, you
15:12know, they could end this by leaking to somebody that, Hey, it's not going to happen.
15:17Washington has no interest in signing Brandon Iyuk.
15:19Is there any benefit from Washington standpoint of having people debate this all day long
15:26every day?
15:28I don't, I mean, like if you tell me that they are actually interested in taste to find digs
15:33and having the Iyuk thing out there kind of maybe limits the, the dig side at what they're
15:40asking for.
15:41Cause like, Hey, we can go in this direction too.
15:43Maybe there's that beyond that.
15:45I mean, that, that's sort of my point.
15:46It just feels like the more this gets dragged out, the less I, like we said, we're saying
15:54trust the organization.
15:55Okay.
15:56But the more this keeps going, it, the more it's like, really?
15:59Like what?
15:59I don't, I don't get what's going on here.
16:01And if it comes out in the end that they weren't interested at all, it's like, ah, come
16:05on, you could have ended this thing forever ago.
16:08And it said, you're dragging it out here.
16:09So I don't see what the point with the benefit would be for them.
16:12I just think that this is what they do in any direction.
16:16They're not looking to share what they're thinking.
16:19Okay.
16:20I mean, you know, I, obviously from a certain perspective, that's respectable as an organization
16:24to not put your dirty laundry out there or any kind of laundry out there.
16:27Uh, it's just in this case, this has been going on now for so long, he's now putting
16:32Brandon is now putting out information out there in terms of his own Instagram posts
16:37that, you know, could be, um, not beneficial just in terms of like questioning what is
16:46going on.
16:47And so I can't see what the reasoning would be.
16:49And like, like I've tried my best as I assume you have, like, we have to talk about it to
16:54a degree, but I'm trying not to, but when he starts posting all these Instagram things,
16:57like, well, okay, I have no choice here.
16:59Yeah.
17:01No, you do.
17:01I, I, I think the digs, uh, angle is an interesting one.
17:05I think that also, um, from their standpoint, it's like, if he does get released, they do want
17:13to perhaps have a sit down with him before they absolutely rule it out.
17:17Like they could be leaning in the direction of, yeah, probably not, but we're not going
17:23to eliminate it until we've had a chance to sit down with him, talk to him, have our medical
17:28people look at his knee, have our, you know, psychological people evaluate him.
17:33Um, because maybe there's a lot to it that they don't know.
17:38So there, there, there could be some, um, reasons for them, not, uh, leaking that they're
17:44not interested, but as long as they don't, and as long as he's not with another team other
17:50than the 49ers, we are obviously going to continue to, to think this is a possibility until, you
17:56know, he signs with somebody else.
17:59I mean, I guess there is a chance, you know, with somebody that is, if he's, if he's got
18:05issues, you know, mental issues, there is a chance he doesn't play with a play for anybody
18:10once the 49ers, uh, cut them loose.
18:13Um, I guess the one thing, like there's been this question of like, does he want to play?
18:18Right.
18:19I mean, cause we don't, we don't know.
18:21It seems like, I don't know for sure, but it seems like the video where he's going on
18:27a bit of a rant seems to suggest that he wants to play just not with the 49ers.
18:32Right.
18:32So maybe that's something we've gleaned from this, but you know, again, that's, it's still
18:38cryptic enough and who knows for sure what's going on to say anything definitively.
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