Wide Receiver

Brandon Aiyuk

No. 11 · 7th season

Aiyuk is shooting his shot in public, and it might be costing him

There's a way to signal where you want to play, and then there's posting videos on the internet calling a team 'the best team in the world.' Brandon Aiyuk has chosen the second path.

Aiyuk is a wide receiver who spent his career with the San Francisco 49ers, where he developed into one of the better pass-catchers in the league. Now he's a free agent, and instead of quietly letting his agent work the phones, he has gone directly to the public with his feelings about where he wants to land next — specifically, Washington.

In multiple videos posted to social media, Aiyuk made clear he would sign with the Washington Commanders without hesitation if the opportunity came. He said he could be there 'tomorrow.' The enthusiasm is real. The problem, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, is that it may be working against him — making other teams hesitant about bringing in a player who appears to have already picked his destination before anyone signed anything.

There is a version of this where it works out fine and Aiyuk winds up exactly where he wants to be. There is another version where teams read the public campaign as a headache they don't need, and the whole thing quietly narrows his options instead of expanding them.

Right now, it is genuinely unclear which version this is.

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