Steelers’ Brandon Aiyuk hopes are completely out of their control now

The Brandon Aiyuk trade saga with the San Francisco 49ers has been the NFL's equivalent of the will-they, won't-they romantic subplots we've seen in countless sitcoms over the decades. But all signs have recently been pointing toward "will they" with the Pittsburgh Steelers being the party most likely to land the former first-round pick in a trade.

Pittsburgh has long been one of the most logical landing spots for Aiyuk, who is seeking a new contract entering the fifth option year on his rookie contract with the 49ers. Now, the Steelers have the finish line in sight to get this deal across it. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear, according to the latest rumors, that they will be able to do anything to push the trade to that point.

According to NFL Media insider Ian Rapoport, the Steelers and 49ers have a trade framework in place while Pittsburgh has also put themselves in a "good place" to sign Aiyuk to his desired extension. However, the 49ers still have to sign off on the deal and, intriguingly, so does the wide receiver in some capacity. That's because San Francisco has also offered a long-term deal to Aiyuk but he has not accepted the terms yet either.

Steelers are at the whims of 49ers, Brandon Aiyuk with trade now

The Steelers have done their part with Omar Khan and the front office. They've finally found terms that are agreeable for both themselves and the 49ers while seemingly also having Aiyuk ready to sign a long-term extension with Pittsburgh. And yet, that's not enough.

If the 49ers want to continue stubbornly refusing to move Aiyuk at this point, the fact that they've not agreed to the trade proposal on the table means that they can still do that. They have no true need to force a trade through if they don't want to. Tied to that as well, Aiyuk still holds some leverage here. If he wants to stay in San Francisco, he has that option with an offer on the table from the Niners. However, he could force their hand too by not agreeing to those terms and pushing for the trade to the Steelers.

Ultimately, the fact that this is now out of the Steelers' control almost entirely isn't a bad thing or a sign for pessimism. It does seem as if things are absolutely progressing toward Aiyuk donning the black and gold sooner rather than later. But for the deal to be official, they're going to need some help. Who knows when that help will come but I'm sure Khan and the Pittsburgh front office wishes there was something more they could do to push it forward again.

However, again, that's just not the situation currently at hand.