Brandon Aiyuk putting foot down with 49ers is hilarious for Seahawks fans
By Lee Vowell
We can admit it. The San Francisco 49ers are a better team than the Seattle Seahawks right now. San Francisco has won the NFC West the last two seasons, and they are probably going to win the division again in 2024. But a change is going to come.
The issue for the 49ers is money. This year and next, they should be fine. In 2026, not so much. Receiver Brandon Aiyuk is already posturing for a new deal and his contract is not up until after 2025. He reportedly wants around $30 million a season in his new deal, and San Francisco doesn't willingly want to pay that. They are offering something closer to $26 million. That is still a lot of money, of course, that many of us would be happy with.
The good thing for Seahawks fans is whether the 49ers move up in their offer or Aiyuk moves down, San Francisco cannot really afford the deal in 2026. By that season, the 49ers are going to have a lot of tough cap decisions and the quality of their team is going to be affected. This is good news for Seattle.
Seahawks fans should be ready for the 49ers to have a lot of financial issues
The salary cap will go up each year, sure, but in 2026 San Francisco currently has $47,062,966 in cap space. That is 27th in the NFL. Seattle sits at $176,573,698, fourth in the league. The Seahawks will have key players who will need to be re-signed so the effective cap is actually much lower. But Seattle will have nowhere near the issues the 49ers will have.
In 2026, quarterback Brock Purdy, wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Aiyuk, and tight end George Kittle will all hit free agency. Left tackle Trent Williams will be under contract, but with a cap hit of $37 million and he will be 38 years old. Nick Bosa's cap hit is $42,029,109.
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The 49ers will be able to rework some of the deals, but that only clears up so much space. Signing Purdy and Aiyuk or Samuel alone eats up most of the 49ers' projected space. This means one of the receivers will likely need to leave as well as Kittle. Williams would save $29 million if he were released in 2026, but he is arguably the second-best left tackle ever (behind Walter Jones, of course).
San Francisco might be good now. The Seahawks are the younger team, however. By 2026, Seattle could be a much better team overall. Let Aiyuk sign his new deal. That is only going to cause more issues for the 49ers in two years.
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