49ers GM -- Aiyuk not available for trade, contract talks underway - ESPN

ORLANDO, Fla. — Standing on the sideline at Michigan's pro day last week, San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch and Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin shared a laugh when Tomlin brought up Niners wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.

Speculation about Aiyuk's future with the team has persisted for more than a year and reached a crescendo this offseason as Aiyuk prepares for the final year on his rookie contract. That includes rumored trades all over the NFL map, including to Tomlin's Steelers.

Speaking to a small group of reporters on Monday afternoon at the NFL league meetings, Lynch offered his most definitive statement yet that not only is Aiyuk not available for trade but that the team has already begun discussing with Aiyuk and his representatives the parameters of an extension that will keep him around long term.

"[Tomlin] is like, 'bro, what's going on,'" Lynch said, laughing. «I promise you nothing's going on there. We're actively talking with Brandon trying to figure something out. We have a good history of working with the guys we want to get done to get something done and it takes two sides. So, can we do that? We'll see. There's a number of different directions that it could go but we appreciate the heck out of Brandon and who he is as a player, and we want him to be a part of the Niners. We're going to work towards making that a reality.»

The trade conjecture surrounding Aiyuk has never come from the 49ers. At last year's league meetings in Arizona, Lynch confirmed that the Niners had been approached by other teams to gauge their interest in dealing Aiyuk only for Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan to reject those overtures.

But that hasn't stopped the conversation from continuing, largely because of the