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The Athletic's Matt Barrows details Brandon Aiyuk's relationship with the 49ers, and what Washington might expect if they eventually sign him.
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00:00Let's go to the Rude Guest Hotline.
00:02Rude, the most reliable heating and air conditioning products in the DMV,
00:06and talk to Matt Barrows who covers the San Francisco 49ers for The Athletic.
00:10Matt, we appreciate a few minutes in D.C.
00:12How are you?
00:14I'm doing well.
00:15How are you guys?
00:16Pretty good, man.
00:16Doing very well.
00:17We want to know what we might be getting ourselves into here.
00:20We figured you might be able to lead us with a lantern into this cave
00:24to find out what's what.
00:25So I want to start with just Brandon Ayuk's last 72 hours or so.
00:30What did you make of the social media posts?
00:32He broke his silence with a video called the San Francisco 49ers
00:37little-ass boy, and they're afraid of the belt.
00:40What was the reaction out west?
00:44It wasn't as big as the reaction out east because people here have moved on
00:51mentally, I think, from Brandon Ayuk.
00:53And, you know, it's out of the Ayuk playbook.
00:59You know, it's using social media.
01:01It's using sort of vague communication.
01:05Remember, he was in a very difficult contract negotiation two years ago
01:11with the 49ers where he was a hold-in during training camp.
01:14And he sort of communicated not by, you know, speaking to people,
01:19but by doing oddball things on the sideline and kind of making himself
01:26apparent in different ways.
01:30So this is, you know, sort of along those lines.
01:34And I think it's obvious that he wants the 49ers to part ways with him so that
01:39the Washington commanders can pick him up and that he can start working with his
01:44buddy, Jaden Daniels.
01:46And I'm sure the commanders want the same thing.
01:50The hiccup is that the 49ers don't want to just let him go.
01:54They want something in return.
01:56And it's this idea that they don't want to let somebody who's disgruntled,
02:03who's under contract, just kind of dictate how he can leave and who he can play for.
02:10And they feel like he let them down by not doing all the things that he needed to do
02:16during his rehab and whatnot.
02:19That's all well documented.
02:20So I think that that's where things stand.
02:23And, you know, it's one side trying to get the other to make a move so that
02:29Brandon and you can basically become a free agent.
02:33Matt, you mentioned kind of cryptic communication or incomplete communication,
02:37whatever the turn of the phrase was that you used.
02:39And my question that I have not gotten answered yet is if he's got a side of the
02:44story, I would love to hear it.
02:46It just seems like it's, as you said, it's very one-sided.
02:48Now, like the 49ers are mean, what was his side of the story?
02:52If there is one about not coming to rehab, not responding to anybody when they
02:55asked him to please show up at certain points and forfeiting tens of millions of
02:59dollars because he knew he couldn't win it back or whatever reason.
03:02What is his side of the story?
03:03If there is one.
03:07The answer is, I don't know.
03:09Right.
03:09And the answer is no one knows because he's not a great communicator as we're,
03:15as you're finding out and as people out here have known for a little while, I can
03:20only make a guess.
03:22So this is, this is, this is not me with special insight into Brandon Ayuk or Brandon
03:28Ayuk telling me this at some point, but you know, it's been a bit of a rocky
03:34relationship from almost from jump with Brandon Ayuk and the 49ers.
03:39He was drafted in, in 2020, um, which as you know, was, was the COVID year.
03:44So it was an oddball year and the 49ers had injuries that year.
03:49It was a big injury year for them.
03:51And Brandon Ayuk got a lot of playing time as a rookie, which, um, is, is, uh, out of
03:57the ordinary for a 49ers receiver.
04:00Kyle Shanahan really scrutinizes that position.
04:03You have to do this, this, and this before you get on the field.
04:06They didn't have the, the, uh, the option of doing that with Ayuk.
04:09They didn't really have an off season because of COVID.
04:12No team did.
04:13He gets in there and he does well.
04:15He almost gets a thousand yard, uh, thousand yards.
04:18The next season though, is basically the season where Shanahan and the coaching
04:23staff say, okay, this is going to be your real off season.
04:26We're going to, we're going to be harder on you.
04:28We're going to be more demanding.
04:29And, um, he didn't start in week one of that year.
04:33Uh, it was a game in Detroit and, um, it was difficult and, um, you know, somebody else
04:40started in front of him.
04:42My point is that, uh, it's always been that way.
04:47It's, it's, uh, he certainly won the team over in 2023 when he had a fantastic season,
04:52but the year after that was the, the difficult contract negotiation.
04:56And I think that that you'll recall, there was a conversation he had with Jaden Daniels
05:01where he said, they don't want me here.
05:04Um, and I think he was legitimately hurt by that.
05:07I think he felt like that, you know, this team literally doesn't want me.
05:11I I'm, I'll be wanted more somewhere else.
05:14And that was almost the case.
05:16They almost traded him.
05:17Um, at the last second, they kind of pulled that off the table and they agreed to the deal.
05:22And then, as you know, he, he wasn't very good or wasn't very productive early, uh, in
05:28that year.
05:29Um, you know, cause he, he hadn't practiced, he didn't go through training camp and then
05:33he gets hurt in week seven and, and here we are.
05:36But I think all that water under the bridge is, is what led to him, you know, you know,
05:42he, he, he's frustrated by the injury in 25.
05:45He's, he's doing rehab.
05:47All it is is rehab.
05:48It's drudgery.
05:49You know, the story, lots of athletes have dealt with it, but he's doing it with the
05:53backdrop of, you know, why am I going through all of this, this, this, like I said, drudgery,
05:59all this hard work for a team that doesn't even want me.
06:02And I think that's my guess is that that sort of led to him maybe not doing everything that
06:08he was supposed to.
06:09The 49ers are still, you know, upset over the, the contract negotiation from 2024.
06:16And that's basically why we're, you know, at the spot we are today.
06:22We're talking San Francisco 49ers and Brandon Ayuk and what lies ahead here now and how
06:29this is going to resolve itself, uh, getting some insight from San Fran, from Matt Barrows,
06:34who covers the Niners for the athletic on Grant and Danny.
06:38Uh, one of our shows here on the station, our midday show had Grant cone on one of the media
06:43members from out there.
06:44And he was very adamant that like Ayuk is a victim essentially, or that the Niners might
06:48be the bad guys here.
06:49And so since then I've heard a lot of people saying, well, maybe we've got this wrong in
06:53DC.
06:53And my assessment is that's one media member's opinion and that's not kind of the consensus.
06:59So I want to know from you, is there a large group of media or fans that feels like he's
07:03been wronged or that see him as a victim or is he widely considered to be laying in a
07:07bed that he made?
07:10Um, I think he's widely considered to be laying in the bed that he made.
07:15Now, having said that the relationship is over.
07:19There's no reason for him to be on the 49ers roster and technically he's not.
07:25And that's, that's a whole other conversation.
07:26He's on this, uh, reserved left squad list.
07:30Um, but you know, the relationship is over, um, and, uh, the 49ers have moved on.
07:38Like I said, some of these things that, that you're reacting to in DC don't get the same
07:42reaction to here because, you know, no, no one expects him back.
07:47He's, he's as good as gone in other words, but he's not gone and he's not free to move
07:52on.
07:53So there is an element of that, but I think certainly here, uh, there's a thought that,
07:58you know, the 49ers are well within their, um, you know, right minds to want something
08:06back in return, um, that you can't be just disgruntled and unhappy with your team and,
08:13um, you know, basically choose another squad when you're under contract.
08:17And by the way, the other squad that he wants to go to is in the same conference as the
08:2249ers.
08:22So, um, I don't think that there's any thought that, um, Brandon, I, you joining the
08:28commanders won't make the commanders better here in San Francisco.
08:32Um, you know, lots of, lots of talk out there that always knee is destroyed.
08:36He's never going to play again.
08:37He was close to coming back to practice at least, uh, last year.
08:43Uh, he was maybe two weeks away from, um, you know, them opening his practice window.
08:49And presumably he would have, he would have gotten going in the month of December and perhaps
08:54been ready for the playoffs played in that game in Philadelphia, who knows?
08:58Um, but the, the, the idea that, uh, the knee is done and he's never going to come back.
09:04I think that's, that's not right.
09:05He was, he was making the right sort of progress for the injury that he had back in, in 24.
09:12Matt, I actually think what they're doing makes some sense because they play Washington in
09:16week six, because there's no benefit to them letting him walk right now, really.
09:22Uh, and even if you want to just say it's petty, I mean, he's, uh, given them a lot of
09:26headaches.
09:27So why do him a solid here?
09:29So I have no issue with what they're doing, but I do have a hard time believing they actually
09:33think they can trade him for anything.
09:34I mean, there's like on what planet, I mean, wouldn't you have to inherit a top 10 contract for
09:39a guy who hasn't played in a year and a half and is a gigantic question mark.
09:43Like there's no way anybody's trading for him that they can't really think that.
09:48No one's trading for him and his current sat salary, but you know, they could do a, a, uh,
09:55sign and trade type of deal.
09:57Um, and I think that's what they, I haven't thought about that.
10:00So meaning like he would rework his deal.
10:03No one's taking on the current contract.
10:04Right.
10:04Everyone gets that pay cut.
10:06And then this is the way they go.
10:07But you can say, Hey, we're actually going to trade you to this team.
10:10Here's the new deal kind of thing.
10:12Exactly.
10:13That's, that's what would have to happen.
10:14Now, before that he, he's on this reserve, um, uh, left squad list.
10:20So that's, that's the list.
10:22As long as he's on the list, the 49ers don't owe him a penny.
10:25Um, because he's not, he's not, you know, technically active for them.
10:29Um, so he has them on that list into the season, right?
10:33They can.
10:34They, they, I think they can.
10:36Uh, he has to go to, he has to essentially petition the league right to the league that
10:42saying that he wants to be reinstated.
10:46And, um, the, both the league and the 49ers have to sign off on that.
10:51And then that would start the process of, okay, you're back on the active roster.
10:57Now we can do a sign and trade.
10:59So there are steps to this and the, the other big part of that is that no one quite knows
11:06whether he's actively working with an agent at the moment.
11:10He's still represented by the same agent that's repped him since he entered the league.
11:15But there's questions about whether there's any communication there either.
11:19So this first step being reinstated, um, to my knowledge, hasn't, that hasn't taken place
11:25yet.
11:26So, you know, things have to happen.
11:28He has to actually show up.
11:30He actually has to, you know, talk to another adult, a human being, and not just social media
11:36in order to kind of, um, get things going, get, get the whole process started because
11:42the 49ers take is we don't have to do anything.
11:45We don't, as long as he's on this list, we don't have to do a damn thing and we don't
11:49owe him a penny.
11:50So the ball sort of in his court in, um, in the agent's court, uh, if, if they want to
11:58kind of get this resolved and I don't know what it would take.
12:01Like I would think that, you know, you do it for a, a 2027 seventh round pick, or maybe
12:07a 2028 pick that will possibly can become a six if he, if he hits certain, um, you know,
12:16certain goals.
12:17Um, I don't think it would take much, but the 49ers just don't want to let them walk
12:22away from nothing.
12:23So just expanding on that part, Matt, I mean, for me, I can certainly understand the 49ers
12:28positioning and given what we know, and maybe even, you know, assuming there isn't much
12:32that we don't at this point in terms of, uh, are you excited of it?
12:35I would not be in a hurry to allow him to go where he wants.
12:39And especially if it's to a team that I have to play in week number six, but B to, to
12:44feel
12:45sort of, as you said, there's no downside other than a few social media posts, uh, that
12:49he may or may not put out there, but salary cap wise, organization wise, because I don't
12:54owe him anything.
12:55Saying it's not going to hurt me to kind of hang on to the last possible second here.
12:58I'm not going to help a rival.
13:00I'm not going to help this guy after what he's done.
13:01How much of that is part of this consideration for the 49ers in your view?
13:06Yeah, I think that's all part of it.
13:08I mean, I, I think the bigger part of it is they had a very, very difficult negotiation,
13:14um, back in 2024.
13:15They, they did, they were not happy with IU at that point.
13:19He, um, according to them, he was sort of all over the map on what he wanted to do.
13:24Did he, did he want to get traded?
13:26Well, I do want to get traded, but I don't want to get traded here.
13:29It has to be here or here.
13:31So, um, I think that that's the bigger part of it, but, but you're right.
13:34I mean, they, they, the commanders are coming to San Francisco in October.
13:40Um, like I said, I think that they believe that, you know, I, I, you could still in his
13:44mid twenties.
13:44He's in the meaty part of his career.
13:47They, I think that they believe that he is going to get back to his previous form.
13:53And, and I think that they, they think that Jaden Daniels is a fantastic quarterback.
13:58So, um, yeah, absolutely.
14:00There, there's no, um, incentive for them certainly, um, to, to get a deal done.
14:06The, their, their bigger incentive is to not get a deal done.
14:09So that, that's their, I think it's their very, um, uh, passive aggressive message to
14:16the commanders.
14:17Like if, if you want this guy, if you want him in camp, um, you have to, you have to
14:22offer
14:23us something and, and maybe that's what gets the ball rolling on this limbo situation that
14:29we're in.
14:30Matt, two more for me and we'll let you go.
14:31The first is before all this, when you said they've always kind of had this strange relationship
14:36in your dealings with IU, is he a pretty level-headed, reasonable, normal guy to interact with in
14:43terms of like just covering sports?
14:44Has he been a pretty good dude to work with?
14:48He hasn't been a bad dude to work with.
14:50And I've worked with Terrell Owens.
14:53I've worked with Michael Crabtree with them.
14:56He's, he's sort, he's sort of neutral.
14:58Um, but I, I wouldn't say that he was a great interviewer.
15:02It is always hard to get things out of him.
15:06Um, but, um, you know, that's, there's, there's a lot of, uh, athletes that fall into that
15:12basket.
15:13Um, but he certainly wasn't, wasn't, you know, uh, there wasn't any animosity or anything
15:18like that.
15:19He was fine.
15:20And, and, um, you know, he, he delivered some of the best plays, uh, of that 2023 season
15:27for the 49ers.
15:28He was very, very beloved in 2023, um, which is why the 49ers bent over backwards to get
15:36him signed in 2024, um, because, um, he was so dynamic and was just the type of receiver
15:42that Kyle Shanahan wanted.
15:45Uh, so, um, you know, it's, uh, it, it, it's hard to believe.
15:49I mean, this happened with Debo Samuel too.
15:51Debo Samuel had a sensational 2021 season.
15:55Uh, one of the best, you know, uh, individual season that I've, uh, I've watched in, in
16:02more than two decades of covering this team.
16:04And then a few years later, he was persona non grata.
16:07So, uh, it's stunning to me how quickly that can happen, but, um, it does happen.
16:12And it certainly happened in this case as well.
16:15So then lastly, we're talking to Matt Barrows on Brandon Ayuk, who covers the San Francisco
16:2049ers, your prediction on how this plays out and when, whatever happens is going to happen.
16:28Yeah, I think the, the logical thing is that the commanders, you know, come to the table
16:34before training camp, uh, and say, listen, we're going to, we're going to, how about this?
16:39We'll send you a, um, a 20, 28, seventh round pick that can improve to a six or a fifth
16:47or
16:47whatever the language is for Brandon Ayuk after a sign and trade deal.
16:52I mean, that just seems to, everybody gets what they want.
16:55I mean, I don't, I don't think anybody in the commanders, you know, fan base would say,
17:00oh, that's, that's way too much for this guy.
17:03Because I think that the upside is, is so good.
17:06Um, and the fact that he would be happy, you know, playing with, with Jaden Daniels,
17:12that's, um, you know, that's, that's a big part of the, the Brandon Ayuk equation there.
17:18Is he happy?
17:20Does he want to be there?
17:21Um, that, that certainly wasn't the case with San Francisco the last couple of years.
17:25That would be the case in Washington.
17:27That to me makes it worthwhile for, for Washington to do a, a modest deal.
17:33Matt, thank you, buddy.
17:34Great information.
17:35Have an awesome week.
17:37All right.
17:37Thanks guys.
17:38Thanks for having me on.
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