A Continuous Journey: 2024 NFL Offseason Thread

Niners won’t get a first. They’re going for a player now. A pick won’t help them this season. If the Steelers were offering picks, it would have to have been made before the draft. Now the Niners aren’t letting go of a Top 10 receiver (and third/fourth option on offense) for something that won’t win them a Super Bowl this year. Steelers would need to offer Pickens and picks and I don’t think they wanted to do that. Browns can offer Cooper and be just fine. Not sure what the Pats have or why the Niners would do that trade. It’s the same problem as the Steelers. A good draft pick doesn’t help them in January. They need assets now.

 

Report I read was Pats giving up Bourne.

 

Cam got duped. It should have been a clue when literally no one else was running with that story. The Niners reporters had been saying Browns and others even when this went out. Larry Krueger (who apparently is going back to KNBR?) was quoting some Steelers rando who was the only other person with the story.

 

Why would the Niners do that? They know Bourne and he’s a downgrade. Yeah he was fine when he was on be Super Bowl team. They thinking CMC, Deebo and Kittle will be enough? I mean that’s a plethora, but I’ve Niners need a traditional WR who can keep defenses honest.

 

Trading Pickens for Aiyuk would have been stupid. It would be an upgrade, but it would still leave them with just one viable receiver. There was some talk of including guard James Daniels or outside linebacker Alex Highsmith, but the former's value may be too limited and Highsmith is way too much to give up for a player who is about to hit free agency.

 

Whoever trades for him is probably offering him a new contract first. Niners are trying to save money to sign Purdy next year and they have to deal with Trent Williams. The assets would be worth it because you can lock Aiyuk in for 3 to 5 years.

 

The report I've read locally is that the trade assets have been agreed upon but that its now up to Aiyuk to decide if he's willing to agree to the contract offered by the Browns/Pats.

Both Cooper and Bourne are downgrades, but the 49ers are likely thinking that Pearsall + Cooper/Bourne makes up for that with the additional draft capital.

I think that Aiyuk's journey has been fascinating, 1st round pick, in the doghouse for 1+ yrs, then becoming an All-Pro on a SB team. I would like him to stay but economics get in the way. I still think he's more John Taylor/Freddie Solomon (who never made All-Pro) than Rice (well who is) or TO.

 

I need to give Pearsall more credit. He’s an unknown but I think he’s the replacement they were planning on anyway. I think they were just hoping he’d get a season to be an apprentice first.

 

Plot twist.

 

Have the parties finalized who is going to pay this project?

 

I heard him talking about this on NFL Network earlier. The reports that a deal was in place with the Patriots, Browns, or both were also premature. It sounds like a lot of people making guesses about a situation that isn't settled yet.