It took several months, but the 49ers finally signed Brandon Aiyuk to a lucrative contract extension last month.
After both sides came to the agreement, multiple reports surfaced about how the deal eventually was settled, including that San Francisco gave Aiyuk an ultimatum before he then signed.
On Tuesday, Aiyuk himself explained his motivations for signing an extension.
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"Just being with my people, the people that I know, people that I've been around for the past four years," Aiyuk detailed on teammate Deebo Samuel's new podcast "Cleats and Convos."
"The people that I've got to see have kids, got to see their kids grow up a little bit, they got to see me have kids, see my kids grow up a little bit," Aiyuk continued. "So really just staying with the family."
Aiyuk then added that the 49ers organization feels like home for him.
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When asked if he played a role in Aiyuk's contract negotiations, Samuel revealed that he largely stayed away from it.
"I just told him, 'At the end of the day, it's going to work out whichever way you want it to work out," Samuel replied. "I wasn't going to dig too much into it, because when I was going through it, I didn't want to be bothered by anybody."
Back in 2022, Samuel went through a similar holdout before signing a three-year extension. Perhaps the success of his own negotiations led to his confidence "that it was going to work out" with Aiyuk, which he had maintained since training camp.
In the end, Aiyuk's statement shows the importance of San Francisco's camaraderie off the field -- in addition to their consistent success in the actual games.
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