Brandon Aiyuk was money in the 49ers’ season opener on Sunday.
Money, as in eight catches for 129 yards and two touchdowns (and a big block to spring another).
Money, as in “this guy is going to be paid so much” next offseason.
It’s probably incorrect to say that Aiyuk’s Week 1 was a breakout performance — he had more than 1,000 receiving yards last season. It was certainly an eye-opening performance, though.
Aiyuk wasn’t just good — he was great against the Steelers.
And if that paradigm applies to the entire season, the 49ers will play deep into the winter, and Aiyuk will become a very rich man in 2024.
After just making Nick Bosa the richest non-quarterback in the NFL, it’s fair to wonder how the 49ers will be able to extend Aiyuk after this campaign.
The answer is simple:
The NFL’s salary cap isn’t real.
The more complicated way is to say that the 49ers — despite having eight players who average at least $15 million per season on their current contracts — have the most salary cap space in the NFL at this moment, per OverTheCap.com. Next season, they can create over $63 million in cap space with simple contract restructures.
Oh, and the NFL’s salary cap keeps expanding and will likely reach $300 million by 2026. (It’s at $224 million now.)
So, no, there’s no cash crunch now that Bosa is signed for five more seasons — just a need for an accountant.
If Aiyuk repeats last year’s stats, he’s worth around $20 million a year on the open market. That’s D.J. Moore, Terry McLaurin, Chris Godwin money — all players with similar outputs to Aiyuk in 2022.
If he takes a step forward, as Sunday’s opener implies he might, he’ll be worth more than $25 million per season.
That’s Deebo Samuel, D.K. Metcalf, A.J. Brown money.
It’s a level up.
Either way, the Niners will be the first team in the NFL with two $20 million receivers in Aiyuk and Samuel. And that distinction won’t affect much of anything.
Not so long as their quarterback, Brock Purdy, accounts for less than half of one percent of the salary cap, as Purdy does through the 2025 season.
Not so long as the salary cap can be so easily manipulated that even I can see how the Niners can manage it.
And I’m leaning towards the latter option for Aiyuk, by the way.
I don’t think Aiyuk’s opening game will look like an outlier in a few months. We’ve long known that Aiyuk is as talented as any receiver in the league. But what was made clear Sunday is that both Purdy and coach Kyle Shanahan have the utmost trust in him.
And trust is worth its weight in gold for a receiver.
That trust didn’t develop on the flight to Pittsburgh, either.