Earlier in the week, the New England Patriots agreed to a trade with the San Francisco 49ers for wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. They just had to get the wide receiver to agree to an extension before the move could be made.
According to multiple reports, the Patriots offered him at least $30 million annually, but they removed themselves from the trade discussions.
Why did New England take themselves out of the negotiations?
The Athletic's Diana Russini, on the "Scoop City" podcast, shared that Aiyuk wasn't interested in playing for the Patriots and why.
"They essentially had a contract in place for Aiyuk, giving him around $32 million a year and with trade compensation that the San Francisco 49ers were OK with, but Aiyuk did not want to go play for New England," Russini said. "He does not believe the quarterback position is at the level that he wants it to be at right now... New England is rolling out the cash to get him there, and he denied them."
New England's quarterback situation isn't the best right now. Their starter is expected to be Jacoby Brissett, who is a serviceable, experienced player, but he's not exactly an MVP candidate. The Patriots could start rookie Drake Maye at some point, but he's looked raw so far this offseason.
However, the other two teams negotiating with him aren't much better.
The Cleveland Browns are set to start Deshaun Watson, who's played in just 12 games for the last two seasons and hasn't looked like the same player since his legal issues kept him off of the field for the 2021 season.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are expected to play Russell Wilson, who looked better last season, but he's still not the same quarterback who helped lead the Seahawks to two Super Bowl appearances and one win.
It will be interesting to see if he goes back to New England and is willing to work out a deal there at the end of the day if he can't get the money he's looking for from Pittsburgh or Cleveland.
MORE PATRIOTS NEWS
Winners and losers from Patriots’ preseason win
Why Patriots only gave QB Drake Maye one series vs. Panthers
Instant analysis of Patriots' preseason win over Panthers
Patriots DB had no doubts about wanting to play after scary neck/head injury
