Despite rumblings he might soon be traded, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk showed up to the team facility per usual on Tuesday.
A day after it was reported Aiyuk was more likely to be traded than remain with the squad, head coach Kyle Shanahan was forced to answer another round of questions concerning the wideout and delivered a mildly optimistic response: There's still hope Aiyuk remains with the team.
Just don't expect a rush to a resolution for the 49ers, who are also dealing with an injury to running back Christian McCaffrey, as he'll miss a couple weeks of practice and is unlikely to play in the preseason, Shanahan announced.
"No," Shanahan said Tuesday when asked if he needed the matter to be addressed soon. "I mean, you also want it to be [resolved] badly, but this stuff does take time. Every day I hope it gets resolved, but I have no timetable on it, didn't surprise me coming into this. I'm going about coaching our team, getting them ready for Week 1, and hopefully it'll get resolved sooner rather than later."
Shanahan refused to get "into any specifics with offers, contracts, trades, anything like that," but added "nothing has changed," effectively refuting rumors Aiyuk, who has been a hold-in through training camp, was all but guaranteed to be headed to the Pittsburgh Steelers via trade, a scenario that also was debunked by NFL Network Insiders Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo on Monday.
Shanahan maintained on Tuesday that "there's a scenario for anything, so I don't want to rule anything out."
It's fairly clear, however, that the two sides aren't on great terms. Just read Shanahan's response to a question of whether the 49ers were better off without Aiyuk.
"Brandon's a great player, so It's real hard to be better when you lose a great player," Shanahan said. "So we've got to look at anything, we've got understand the situation we're in, what that looks like, and that does take time. Hopefully it'll all work out best for him and best for us in the long run."
The unfortunate news on Tuesday didn't end with the on-going Aiyuk stalemate. McCaffrey is dealing with a calf strain and is unlikley to play in the preseason, while rookie first-round wide receiver Ricky Pearsall aggravated a shoulder injury in practice. All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams also remains a holdout, though that situation has largely been overshadowed by Aiyuk.
For a player as explosive, dynamic and essential to San Francisco's operation as McCaffrey, this isn't good news. The 49ers will exercise caution in handling their superstar running back (and cover athlete of Madden NFL 25) in the weeks ahead while keeping their focus on their main goal: winning a Super Bowl.
They'll hope Aiyuk joins them for the ride.
