49ers Rumors: Niners Trading Brandon Aiyuk To Commanders? Robert Saleh Leaving San Francisco?

49ers Rumors: Niners Trading Brandon Aiyuk To Commanders? Robert Saleh Leaving San Francisco?

Hey there, welcome into the show. You’re watching the San Francisco 49ers report. Chase Senior here with you. And coming up on today’s show, this upcoming off season, will the Niners trade wide receiver Brandon Au to the Washington Commanders? There’s a lot of traction and buzz on that front that I want to get to that’s timely here. and also Niners defensive coordinator Robert Salah in his return to San Francisco this year has done a tremendous job leading this defensive unit. But because of that, he’s getting a lot of head coaching buzz for some potential openings this upcoming off season. I first want to say thank you to all of the real ones who continue to support this show and watch the channel. The 49ers report just surpassed 183,000 subscribers. Since talking Niners on this program since 2021, we’ve been able to build something special and I’m glad all of you think the same. So, if you haven’t subscribed, do so right now. As we know, the 49ers a couple of weeks ago voided the guarantees in Brandon Aayuk’s 2026 contract. And so, what that does for the Niners next year is open up $25 million in cap space in 2026. over the next few years, it opens up 80 to90 million in cap space because sometimes those numbers are a little bit fluid and we’ll wait for clarity on that as the months and years go by. But either way, San Francisco by doing this opening up a lot of cap room for now and in the future. And what’s interesting about this situation is that Brandon Aayuk is not fighting this with the NFL Players Association. Meaning he’s pretty much okay with forking over about $25 million and he’s not going to take this to the NFL Players Association to try to fight back to try to get some of that money. Isn’t that a little bit weird? Doesn’t that make you scratch your head a little bit? I know that Iuk’s made some decent coin and pretty much the Niners paid him $31 million to play seven games for this team after signing that extension last year and getting some guarantees and bonuses in that. But what that tells me is that Aayuk just once out from San Francisco and it’s pretty telling that here we are entering week 15. The Niners have not opened up his practice window. He hasn’t been seen around the facility. And the Niners are nine and4 in the thick of a playoff race. He could really help this team. He got that surgery for the ACL, MCL, and meniscus back in November. I think that he could be medically cleared, but he’s not getting on the field, which again tells me he wants no parts of playing for the NerS again. So, I don’t think we’re going to see number 11 in a Niners uniform any longer. And there is a theory out there worth exploring which makes a ton of sense for why Aayuk is not funding the situation with the NFL players association. Is there a secret deal behind the scenes? Is Aayuk not contesting this because the NerS and him have talked about a trade this upcoming off season to the Washington Commanders. This isn’t some taboo thing to talk about. I think there’s a realistic scenario this happens and we’re about to get to some intel from some NFL insiders. This has been talked about in NFL circles why this would happen in voiding the 2026 guarantees in Iayuk’s contract for next year, right? San Francisco is able to save some cap space that is valuable to them as compared to them having to eat even more dead money, right? So if they save cap space and they can trade BA, they get value back for Iayuk as well. And if they trade Iuk, he gets to go to a destination that he wants to go to. Before he signed that extension in the leadup to last year, and as we know, it was a messy contract dispute. The Niners had deals worked out to send him to New England or send him to Cleveland. And even though Aayuk didn’t have a no trade clause, he said, “I’m not going there because I’m not gonna sign an extension with those teams.” Turns out a deal to New England would have been pretty damn good for him. Anywh who, he’s long been rumored to want to play with Jaden Daniels. And the thing with an IU trade is I don’t think a lot of teams across the NFL want to give up draft capital for Brandon IU, pay him under the current construct of that contract, not knowing the person they are getting and the player that they’re getting. Brandon Aayuk from 2020 through 2023 exceptional player. He developed into an allpro. He was a top 10 to 15 wide receiver in the NFL, but teams don’t know if they’re acquiring him under that contract, how he looks, if he’s even healthy, how he’s going to perform at that price tag coming off an ACL, MCL, and miniscus tear. But with the Washington Commanders, there is a sense of familiarity between that organization and Brennan Auk. And it’s that Jaden Daniels connection. BA and Jaden Daniels played together at Arizona State in the leadup to Iayuk’s contract. And during that saga, he was at one time on FaceTime with Jane Daniels telling him the Niners don’t want me any longer. And Aayuk had his girl filming that. There was another time before Aayuk put pen to paper on that contract that he put out a photo I believe on his Instagram story of him watching Commander practice tape of Jaden Daniels. Daniels was at Brennan Iayuk’s wedding. Brock Pury, his quarterback, was not at BA’s wedding. Debo Samuel was there. Although he’s going to be a free agent after the year, he’s played solid this season. and Washington is said to want to retain him potentially. But also, the general manager for the Commanders is Adam Peters, who used to be John Lynch’s right-hand man and the uh assistant GM with San Francisco from 2017 through 2023. And so, Adam Peters was a part of the front office that drafted BA and he knows the player who he is. Washington also has money to absorb that IU contract in 2026. Their cap room top five in the NFL, $81.9 million. And going back to this being a big talking point in NFL circles, here’s what Dan Graciano, NFL insider for ESPN, said on offense, Washington has been pegged by a lot of people as a potential destination for Brandon Aayuk. As it’s believed he’d like to team up with former Arizona State teammate Jaden Daniels. Now, the Commanders signed Tara McLaren to that deal. They’re not sure what’s going to happen with BA, but if they bring back Debo at a decent rate, they could afford McLaren, Aayuk, and Debo and put together a solid one, two, three punch at the wide receiver spot. And again, BA is best friends with Jaden Daniels. Jaden Daniels has been injured all this year. He’s going to be looking to have a bounceback season. He’s going to need some help on the offensive side of the ball. and will it help Jayen Daniels knowing he’s best friends with BA? Here’s what Jeremy Fowler said about this situation. The IU Washington connection makes a lot of sense. So, as you look ahead to the offseason, obviously San Francisco in the thick of a playoff hunt right now. We are going to keep tabs on this because I do think this could happen. And if the Niners can trade him and get value back and get out of that contract while opening up cap space, that’s a big win for San Francisco. I will say it is unfortunate how fast I stock fell with the NerS. He got to a point where 2020 to 2021 to 2022 to 2023, he got better and better and better and better every single year. He developed into an allp pro player. He was beloved by this fan base, but with the way that he handled the contract situation, all the cryptic posts, the bad body language, the attitude, him getting into that spat during practice with Kyle Shanahan, him signing the deal and still being unhappy, and now him pretty much giving up and quitting on his team, his stock in the toilet. Still to come here on today’s show, Robert Salic given the job that he’s done in leading this Niners defense, getting a lot of head coaching buzz. We’re about to get into that, but first, let’s get to our sponsor. Today’s San Francisco 49ers report is brought to you by our friends at Prize Picks, the number one daily fantasy sports app in the game. It’s the holiday season, the best time of year for sports. Bowl games, basketball matchups, playoff pushes, it’s all happening at once. And while you and I are out here making decisions every day what gifts to buy, what to eat, which game to watch, there is one place where it feels good to be right. 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It’s good to be right. All right, let’s talk Robert Salah here. I really can’t say enough about the job that Robert Salah has done in 2025. You lose Nick Bosa in week three. You lose Fred Warner shortly thereafter. And still this Niners team is nine and4 on the year. They are top 10 in points per game allowed. Robert Salah has made chicken salad out of chicken He’s developed players. He’s maximized players. He’s gotten creative. He’s been able to adapt and evolve with the personnel that he has at his disposal. And for the most part, this Niners defense has played pretty damn well given the circumstances of how injured they’ve been, all of the adversity that they’ve had to face. We’re not talking about two slumps here. We’re talking about Nick Bos and Fred Warner who are two of the best players in the history of this organization. Two of the best players of all time at their positions. Two potential future Hall of Famers for sure for Fred Warner. And you look at these defensive numbers here. Look, you can give up yards and be 20th there. But Robert Salah’s defense this year has defined bend but do not break. And you can give up yards, but can you hold teams to field goals? If you do, that is a win for your defense, especially with how hard it is to play defense in today’s NFL. And so to be eighth in points per game is incredible. to be 14th on third downs and in the red zone. That is really good stuff from Robert Salah. And when you do a job like Robert Salah has done this year to this level where you’ve been arguably the best defensive coordinator in the game given the cards that you’ve been dealt, you are going to get some opportunities to be an NFL head coach. And that brings me to this. I get this question a lot from fans. Chase, why would Robert Salah leave the 49ers after having success here once again to get a head coaching job with another team? If you’re a competitive person, you want to be at the top of your industry, right? And for Robert Salva, the top of his industry is being a head coach. And from his standpoint, yeah, he’s been a great defensive coordinator for the Niners from 2017 through 2020 and here in 2025. But during his stint with the New York Jets, he was with a bad organization with one of the worst owners in the sport, an organization that doesn’t have a great foundation, not a lot of stability there, and the defenses there were never his problem. But the organization during his Jets stint could never get the quarterback right. And so, Robert Salah is probably thinking, man, if we’re able to get the quarterback right, I know that I can have my defense humming. I know that I can be a head coach in this league. Robert Solid is a very confident guy. He’s confident in his abilities. So, he probably feels as though he can go somewhere and be a successful head coach. Being a defensive coordinator is not being a head coach. And I don’t think he feels as though he got a fair shot with the New York Jets. I mean, they fired him last year. They ended up being even worse with Jeff as interim head coach as compared to Robert Salah. Robert Salah is a great leader of men. He does a great job with his defensive mindset of adapting, evolving, and being innovative with the current trends and nuances of offensive football. Players rally for him. They absolutely love him. He did some really nice things on the defensive side of the ball with the Jets. And if he were to go to a better situation where he can be a head coach, I think that he can flourish. Plus, you make more money being a head coach as compared to a DC. And I just think that that competitive itch might be itching at him. Now, his situation with the Niners right now, it’s fantastic. He’s working alongside Kyle Shanahan. They are clearly very tight. He’s one of, if not the highest paid defensive coordinators in football. If he gets Nick Bosen and Fred Warner back next year, a defense that has been pretty damn good this year, especially with the analytics, can be even better next year. he can try to realistically chase a Super Bowl. But myself, you, anybody who’s competitive, you’re always when you’re in your prime looking to see how far you can make it in your industry. You’re always trying to test your boundaries to see what you’re capable of. And I think that that is in the back of Robert Salah’s mind. Plus, being able to be the CEO of an organization, pretty damn cool. It’s one of 32 jobs in the world. And with that, let’s segue to this. Albert Brerier, NFL insider for Sports Illustrated, put together a list of his top 43 head coaching candidates. And Robert Salah is of course on that list. And Albert Brer spoke glowingly of Salah. He said, “Salah, 46 years old, may have had the best candidacy boost of any coach this season simply by virtue of how his former quarterback and team performed without him.” ESPN’s Bill Barnwwell dug up the stat that has come to define Salah’s candidacy for a second head coaching job. In the Jets final 17 games with Salah as head coach, the team was number one defensive EPA per play allowed and points per drive allowed. In the team’s first 17 games without Salah, they were the worst team in the NFL by those same metrics. Salah’s injury battered Ner’s defense is eighth in points allowed despite not having its best two players Nick Bosa and Fred Warner for most of the season. The Ners have allowed just 17 points over the past two weeks. Salah interviewed for openings in Jacksonville and Dallas last year and was also offered a hefty deal to be the Raiders defensive coordinator and error to Pete Carol. Meaning if Pete Carol coached a couple of years and Robert Salah was the DC, the Raiders had a plan in place to make Salah the next head coach after Pete Carol. So he is looked at very highly in NFL circles. So obviously I’m hoping that Robert Salah stays with the NerS. He is a joy to watch in coordinating and coaching up this defense, but if he gets another opportunity to be a head coach again, one of 32 jobs in the world, I’m not going to blame him. Don’t forget to give me a follow on social media. You can find me on X, Instagram, and Tik Tok, chase Senior. I just started my Tik Tok page a couple of Saturdays ago. Already closing in on 4,000 followers. I appreciate all of the real ones.

San Francisco 49ers trade rumors on Brandon Aiyuk to the Washington Commanders + Will Robert Saleh leave the 49ers for a head coaching job? Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/CLNS and use code CLNS and get $50 in lineups when you play your first $5 lineup!

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2024 San Francisco 49ers Stats Leaders (Defense):
Fred Warner: 131 TKL, 5 TFL, 1 SACK, 7 PD, 2 INT, 4 FF
Deommodore Lenoir: 85 TKL, 2 TFL, 9 PD, 2 INT, 1 FF
Ji’Ayir Brown: 77 TKL, 3 TFL, 6 PD, 1 INT
Nick Bosa: 52 TKL, 15 TFL, 9 SACK, 1 PD, 1 INT, 1 FF
Leonard Floyd: 42 TKL, 8 TFL, 8.5 SACK, 1 PD, 1 FF
Maliek Collins: 33 TKL, 5 TFL, 5 SACK

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