As things continue to heat up in the trade saga of San Francisco 49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk, multiple Pittsburgh Steelers shared their thoughts on the rumors surrounding their team and the stud wide receiver.
Of course, the Steelers are rumored to be one of the teams involved in trade talks for Aiyuk. After it seemed like all hope was lost for the Steelers on Monday, multiple reports on Tuesday revealed Pittsburgh is still in the running.
Wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni briefly touched on the situation with Aiyuk and the players currently on the team on Tuesday after practice.
“I don’t talk about it at all," he said, per Aaron Becker of Yardbarker. "I know where my job is, holding the whistle, get these guys that they get me to go real hard. That’s my job and whoever they put in that room, I’ll take them and we’ll do it.”
The Steelers' current favorite for the No. 2 role is Van Jefferson, who has the most to lose if Aiyuk becomes a Steeler. He praised the 49ers wide receiver, but says nothing will change for him, even if the trade rumors become a reality.
"He's a hell of a competitor,” Jefferson said of Aiyuk, according to Nick Farabaugh of PennLive.com. “We all know how explosive he is and what he can do. We’ve all seen it on film, but at the end of the day, I was still going to come out here and practice whether they did it or not...You hear the rumors about everything going on. Those are decisions we don’t make. All we can do is control what we can control and play our best ball when we’re out here.”
Jefferson is looking to revive his career after a few lackluster seasons following what was an impressive sophomore campaign in 2021. He has been having an outstanding camp and is in line to be a pivotal piece in the passing game in 2024.
However, his role will take a serious hit if Aiyuk is acquired, which is something that seems to be gaining serious steam ahead of Pittsburgh's first preseason game on Friday.
