More fuel poured on fire of potential Steelers-49ers trade for Brandon Aiyuk

The NFL world was rocked on Monday by a fairly obvious fake report announcing that Brandon Aiyuk was officially traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Several credible national reporters, such as Bleacher Report's Jordan Schultz, have since denounced it and corrected the record. No, Aiyuk has not been dealt to the Steelers.

Alas, the dream is still very much alive. Aiyuk has been flirting with the Steelers all summer and it's hard to imagine him re-upping his contract with the San Francisco 49ers. Those talks have been happening for months and there has been no meaningful progress. Aiyuk has requested a trade, the Niners are well-stocked on the offensive end, and a distraction is the last thing the reigning NFC champs need.

While Pittsburgh has not acquired the talented wideout yet, he is absolutely on the Steelers' radar. Just because one reported jumped the gun or dished out false info, that doesn't mean an Aiyuk trade won't happen in due time.

In fact, if we are predicting based on the latest tidbit from NBC Sports' Matthew Berry, Aiyuk ending up in Pittsburgh sure sounds like the most realistic and probable outcome. The 49ers talks are at a standstill and, evidently, Aiyuk wants to land with the Steelers. That is critical framing, as Aiyuk will exert control over his final destination by leveraging his contract situation.

Brandon Aiyuk wants trade to Steelers as 49ers holdout continues

Aiyuk continues to not practice for the Niners, who are looking to repeat as NFC champs and challenge the Kansas City Chiefs' reign atop the league. While Aiyuk was undeniably essential to the Niners' offensive success last season, Kyle Shanahan can scheme a productive offense around Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey. It's too extreme to call Aiyuk a luxury, but I am not entirely sure he's a necessity either.

The distraction of it all is not productive to San Francisco's goals. They need to be focused on football and putting the best roster around Brock Purdy before his contract number explodes into the stratosphere. One could argue that this is therefore the perfect time to lock up Aiyuk on a big contract, but that's neither here nor there. John Lynch and the 49ers front office clearly have reservations, justified or not. That dialogue is close to death, and there's little hope of revival.

Earlier this summer, Aiyuk tweeted about how he looks strikingly similar to Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. It was viewed as innocent fun at the time, but of course there was a portion of the Pittsburgh fanbase that believed it was a prophecy of sorts. That Aiyuk was yearning to wear black and gold and put the Steelers back in the Super Bowl.

Well, maybe that is the case after all. There's still a lot standing between Aiyuk and the Steelers. Other teams are in the mix and San Francisco will prioritize the best trade package — unless Aiyuk gets really, really picky about his next home. He has the power to say 'I am not signing an extension with your team," but with such a wide range of interested suitors, Aiyuk probably won't force San Francisco into a Steelers-or-bust trade scenario.

Pittsburgh needs to win the bidding war and convince the Niners to shelve all hope of getting Aiyuk to extend. If the Steelers can accomplish that, we can finally stop waiting for this trade to happen. Because it very well could happen.