The standoff between the 49ers and star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk continues, and a resolution doesn't appear imminent as long as both parties remain as far apart in contract extension negotiations as they appear to be.
Just how far apart are they? The San Francisco Chronicle's Mike Silver provided an update on the 49ers' latest offer to Aiyuk in an appearance on KNBR 680's "Papa & Lund" on Thursday.
"I'm hearing their offer is in the $26 million range, which certainly is not Justin Jefferson money, nor should it be, but it's closer to that DeVonta Smith, Amon-Ra St. Brown, that next tier down," Silver said.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
If true, the $26 million-per-year average still is less than Brown's $28 million-per-year contract with the Detroit Lions -- a benchmark Aiyuk reportedly wants to surpass -- and even further below what ESPN's Jeremy Fowler believes Aiyuk's value could be.
"So Brandon Aiyuk's the big one," Fowler said Saturday on SportsCenter. "We know what the wide receiver market is now. It's looking at probably $30 million and above. And Aiyuk's considered a top-10 receiver now at this point by most in the league.
"Both sides have had negotiations, but it hasn't really graduated to something where it's going to get done and it's intensified. So they got the next six weeks over the summer before training camp to try to get it done or he might not show up based on him not showing up to minicamp as a precedent."
However, Aiyuk's personal wide receiver coach T.J. Houshmandzadeh told 95.7 The Game's "Willard & Dibs" on Thursday that Aiyuk would have agreed to terms had the 49ers offered him the same deal as Brown's four-year, $120 million contract.
San Francisco 49ers
If that's the case, then the two sides appear to be at an impasse over $2 million in average annual salary.