OutKick89%
49ers have succeeded with talent acquisitions but failed at addition by subtraction of Brandon Aiyuk 48%
By Armando Salguero0%
4/21/2026, 5:13:34 AM
Topics: San Francisco 49ers, Nfl Draft
BS Summary: This article contains 27 faulty reasoning types, including Negativity Bias, Hasty Generalization, and Pessimism Bias, with Biased Writer Voice as the most egregious example at 37.6% saturation with 307 hits. Analysis detected 1,538 faulty-reasoning hits from 817 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 48.8% and a BS Rank of 48% (11,581 of 21,887 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 52.90% of the article peer group.
The San Francisco 49ers have done a lot of important offseason work adding exciting pieces to their team or making sure key players stay put.
So, general manager John Lynch was happy to discuss some of those this week because ...
...
The 49ers have signed WR Mike Evans.
...
Signed LB Dre Greenlaw.
...
Signed WR Christian Kirk.
...
Re-signed K Eddie Piñiero.
...
Traded for DT Osa Odighizuwa.
...
And on Monday, the 49ers re-signed perennial Pro Bowl offensive tackle Trent Williams to a two year extension worth $50 million.
CHRISTIAN MCCAFFREY LANDS ON INJURY REPORT DAYS BEFORE NFL SEASON AFTER MISSING 13 GAMES IN 2024
Yes, the 49ers have done a great job of talent addition.
But they sure have failed at addition by subtraction because receiver Brandon Aiyuk remains on the roster despite Lynch’s best efforts to trade him.
San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (11) celebrates with general manager John Lynch after the NFL game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams on Sept. 17, 2023, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
(Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire)
Lynch on Monday tried to put the best spin he could on that failure when he announced he’s had discussions with other teams about an Aiyuk trade.
"Yeah, I've had some discussions," Lynch confirmed.
"Do I think it's a high probability?
Likely no.
But, is there a chance?
Yeah, I think there's a chance."
The educated guess here is if the 49ers can finally trade Aiyuk for something during the draft, it will be a low-round pick because of his recent history both on and off the field.
But Lynch apparently isn’t ruling out the possibility another team loses its mind and trades for a receiver who didn’t play in all of 2025, hasn’t been around the team since last November, and had a driving escapade on the roads just outside the team’s training facility while he was injured and unwisely posted the episode on social media.
The 49ers were unhappy with Aiyuk even before last season, dating back to July of 2025 when they voided approximately $27 million of his 2026 guaranteed money, citing his failure to meet contractual requirements regarding participation in team activities and rehabilitation following his 2024 season-ending knee injury.
So it’s been frosty between the sides for a while.
The entire Earth knows it, and that makes trading Aiyuk for anything notable a nearly futile undertaking.
Brandon Aiyuk #11 and Head Coach Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers on the field before the game against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field on December 15, 2022 in Seattle, Washington.
(Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images)
It hasn’t helped that Lynch announced he didn’t want Aiyuk on the team after the 2025 season.
That sends the message the club doesn't value the player so why would another team feel the need to value him?
Then coach Kyle Shanahan repeated he was hopeful the team "could get something" for Aiyuk during the NFL annual meeting in March.
Again, not exactly selling Aiyuk as a major talent.
And there was Lynch on Monday, announcing the work to jettison Aiyuk continues.
"I think I was candid with you guys in saying at the end of the season that he's likely played his last snap for us," Lynch repeated again.
"We all are in concert on where we're going with Brandon.
"At league meetings, I talked to you guys, I thought it would have been irresponsible not to give it through league meetings because there's various inflection points where a lot of deals at least start to get talked about.
The league meetings are a great opportunity because everyone in the league is there.
MAXX CROSBY DESCRIBES ROLLER COASTER OF EMOTIONS DURING TENUOUS RAVENS ORDEAL, INCLUDING 'OFF' MEETING
"The draft is another opportunity because a lot of things happen on draft week."
San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch speaks at the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center on Feb.
24, 2026.
(Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
So the 49ers will continue to panhandle for trade gold through the draft even if the work offers nothing but offers of dirt.
"I think we'll see it through here," Lynch said.
"We'll focus on our draft.
If something happens there, great.
If not, we'll re-evaluate it.
He's still a member of this roster right now and we'll treat him as such."
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
A quick NFL lesson on how teams speak: When a coach or general manager says a player is on the roster "right now," that means that player will not be on the roster in a little while.
The problem for the 49ers has been that a little while has been a long time in coming.
Armando Salguero is OutKick's Senior NFL Writer.
Speakers
2speakers27%attributed speech596writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Selected voice
63%flagged-word coverageJohn Lynch
199 attributed words90% of attributed speech61% writer coverage
Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.
Loading…
Loading…
Loading…
Loading…
Loading…
Loading…
Analysis
Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.