{"id":822263,"date":"2026-03-20T01:48:34","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T01:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/822263\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T01:48:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T01:48:34","slug":"commanders-rumors-pierce-aiyuk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/822263\/","title":{"rendered":"Commanders Rumors: Pierce, Aiyuk"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Commanders were \u201caggressive\u201d in their pursuit<\/a> of Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce<\/a> when the NFL\u2019s legal negotiating window opened March 9, but he stayed put on a four-year, $114MM contract. It turns out he nearly ended up in Washington. Had Pierce reached the open market, he \u201cabsolutely\u201d would have signed with the Commanders, a source told John Keim of ESPN<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After seemingly finishing second in the Pierce sweepstakes, Washington was the runner-up in the Romeo Doubs<\/a> derby the next day. Doubs left the Packers for the Patriots\u2019 four-year, $68MM pact<\/a>, but the Commanders were reportedly \u201cvery close\u201d to landing him.<\/p>\n

While the Commanders still have not found a capable complement to No. 1 receiver Terry McLaurin<\/a>, they have bolstered their pass-catching group in adding former Titans tight end Chig Okonkwo<\/a> and making modest investments at receiver (Dyami Brown<\/a>, Treylon Burks<\/a>, Van Jefferson<\/a>). Impact options at the position continue to dwindle in free agency, though. Jauan Jennings<\/a> and Deebo Samuel<\/a>, who spent last season in Washington, are among the most appealing unsigned wideouts remaining.<\/p>\n

Samuel led a banged-up Commanders receiving corps in catches (72), targets (99), yards (727) and touchdowns (five) last year, but he hasn\u2019t drawn any known interest from Washington or elsewhere this offseason. The Commanders are expected to target<\/a> one of Samuel\u2019s former 49ers teammates, Brandon Aiyuk<\/a>, though San Francisco will have to part with him first. While Aiyuk starred during his most recent full season in 2023, his stock has plummeted since then. As such, it is \u201cunlikely\u201d the Commanders will trade for Aiyuk or submit anything more than a one-year, prove-it offer if the 49ers release him, Keim writes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In 2024, the first season of a four-year, $120MM contract, Aiyuk caught only 25 of 47 targets for 374 yards and no touchdowns before tearing his ACL and MCL in Week 7. He has not played since then.<\/p>\n

While Aiyuk was on the mend from surgery last July, the 49ers voided the remaining guarantees on his deal<\/a> because they were not happy with his rehab efforts. They eventually placed Aiyuk on the reserve\/left squad list in December, ending any chance he would play in 2025.<\/p>\n

Delving into the Aiyuk drama as a guest on the Bussin\u2019 with the Boys<\/a> podcast this week, 49ers tight end George Kittle<\/a> revealed (via Coach Yac<\/a>): \u201cThe last time I saw Aiyuk, he was kinda at training camp, kinda not and then he was in and out of the building throughout the first couple of weeks. Then I started going out to see him in the weight room because he didn\u2019t go into the locker room or the training room anymore. He would just go into the weight room to do his rehab. I would go there and talk to him because he didn\u2019t go to meetings or anything like that. I would just talk to him and let him know \u2018I\u2019m your guy. Just letting you know I love ya\u2019. I started doing that Week 6 and then a week later that story came out about all the crazy stuff and then I didn\u2019t see him again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Aiyuk has the talent to revive his career, it is no surprise that the Commanders and the rest of the league are wary of trading for him or handing over a sizable contract. But whether it\u2019s Aiyuk or someone else, it would be ideal for Washington to find another starting-level receiver this offseason. General manager Adam Peters\u00a0has come up empty in his efforts so far.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Commanders were \u201caggressive\u201d in their pursuit of Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce when the NFL\u2019s legal negotiating…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":800419,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2069],"tags":[4994,5305,427,7,392,6,252,855,111,2480],"class_list":{"0":"post-822263","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-commanders","8":"tag-alec-pierce","9":"tag-brandon-aiyuk","10":"tag-commanders","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-indianapolis-colts","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","15":"tag-washington","16":"tag-washington-commanders","17":"tag-washingtoncommanders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116258991363132617","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=822263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822263\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/800419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=822263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=822263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=822263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}