With Patriots Out Of Mix, Are Steelers Poised To Win Brandon Aiyuk Trade?

Now that the New England Patriots have reportedly dropped out of the Brandon Aiyuk trade sweepstakes, which team is the front-runner to land the star wideout?

With the Patriots out of the running, the teams left in the hunt are the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers, according to NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco.

The Steelers re-entered the picture Tuesday after they were reportedly not willing to meet the 49ers trade demands, but Pittsburgh remains to be the "preferred destination" for Aiyuk.

"Aiyuk made it clear during the offseason that Pittsburgh was among his preferred destinations in a trade," Maiocco wrote. "The 49ers gave Aiyuk's camp permission to negotiate with those teams. And he already knows what they are offering. Aiyuk did not show much interest in joining the Browns or the Patriots. The Browns remain in play ... for now."

According to Maiocco, the Steelers do not have an obvious player to include in a trade so a deal could include several picks in the 2025 and 2026 draft. Maiocco even floated the idea that if San Francisco were to accept a deal with Pittsburgh to trade Aiyuk, they could use one of the picks to flip to another team to acquire a veteran or proven wide receiver.

The Patriots reportedly had an agreement in place with the San Francisco 49ers that included Kendrick Bourne re-joining his former team and a large contract offer that topped $30 million per year to Aiyuk. The Browns are rumored to be willing to part ways with Amari Cooper if the 49ers accept their proposed trade for Aiyuk.