Brandon Aiyuk is holding in, Trent Williams is holding out, and the 49ers are holding their ground.
John Lynch continued to deliver the company line on his regular hit on KNBR, saying there are no updates on the Aiyuk or Williams contract situations while maintaining San Francisco values each star player and wants them to return.
“We’ll continue to work on it,” Lynch said of Aiyuk on the Murph & Markus Show. “Same thing with Trent Williams: No updates there. Good communication with both the players and their representatives, but just haven’t made any breakthroughs. We’ll leave it at that and focus on the other 90 guys that are here and are doing great things on the field.”
The Aiyuk and Williams situations are vastly different. Aiyuk reportedly requested a trade and the 49ers have correspondingly negotiated with interested teams about frameworks. The receiver has attended 49ers practices but only in street clothes.
Williams, meanwhile, has stayed home during training camp and preseason — accruing fines — as he has run out of guaranteed money left in his contract. But the left tackle has been in touch with his head coach, Kyle Shanahan.
A myriad of factors complicate both situations. But at this point, the biggest one is time. Asked if there’s a deadline for deals to get done, Lynch said, “last month.”
“Everyone knows when the kickoff date is,” Lynch said. “We feel good about our team. Said it many times: We’d love to have those two in the fold, but we like our group. I’ll leave it at that.”
San Francisco’s final preseason game is Friday night in Las Vegas — at the site of the Super Bowl the 49ers lost last February to Kansas City. Week 1 is Sept. 9 at home against Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets.
It’s fair to wonder if Williams or Aiyuk, even if they resolve their contract disputes, would be physically ready to suit up for the start of the season.
“We’re not there yet, but we’re getting close,” Lynch said when asked if their Week 1 availability is in question. “It’s right around the corner. So we’re going to continue to try to work things out, and we’ll see where things go.”
Aiyuk became Brock Purdy’s favorite target last season, leading San Francisco in receptions (75) and receiving yards (1,342). As a route-runner and downfield threat, he perfectly complements Deebo Samuel — the bruising, versatile playmaker. And Williams, the three-time All-Pro, might be the 49ers’ single most important player on either side of the ball.
Lynch knows that in this stage in negotiations, anything said publicly could thumb the scales one way or another. It behooves him to keep any real developments under wraps. But there’s only a couple more weeks until the regular season kicks off, at which point unsettled situations will be under an even greater microscope.
The 49ers are Super Bowl contenders with Aiyuk and Williams. Without them, they like their team. That’s a massive difference.
“I know fans are eagerly awaiting and the season’s right around the corner,” Lynch said. “I can tell everybody this: We feel the urgency to get all our players back. We’re very excited about our team, and those are two guys who have been a huge part of our success. So we’d like to have them both back in the fold.”
