49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk Explains Why His Contract Negotiation Took So Long

congratulations what was this whole ordeal like for you how much did it weigh on you over these last last few months thank you uh a lot a bunch but feeling good right now feeling light nowand why did it take so long it just was laborious and it was tough to cover from this side why did it take so long from your perspective just trying to make sure we got to the right spot just trying to make sure that everything was cover to make sure that we're good on both sides was there ever a time in this that you thought you were going to be playing somewhere else I don't think there was times where I had to kind of you know get my mind right um for that being a possibility yeah how do you go about getting your mind right in that situation what do you mean by that just being just being open to whatever may be whatever it may be but ultimately you you wanted to stay here like how much was that kind of the driving force between you know getting it getting it done yeah it's easy to say that now ultimately yeah um I want to be in this position right here that I'm in right now standing here talking to y'all but like I said every day was different it's negotiation every day is different and uh just fallowing my my heart and myself in each day and that led to here today this part of the game right but all through preseason Deo kind of came in and said that he was always trying to talk to this he been through the process itself how did that kind of help you over the time and course of contract negotiations and then now to be back in the locker room with your guys how has that you know chemistry been yeah I was talking to I talked to I talked to George I talked to Bosa a lot I talked to Deo a lot um just trying to figure out certain things get their feel for certain things um and just being able to talk with them through the process um was huge but also just being able to see them be around them every single day um for now just inserting myself right back in seem like there was no progress for months and months and months what do you think push this over the Finish Line uh like Kyle says two sides wanting to get it done in terms of conditioning stamina and just being ready to play Monday against the Jets ready to go is there anything you would you know it obviously worked out but is there anything you would tell yourself something that you know now that you maybe didn't know months ago when this all began uh no not right now not right now uh but maybe the next time around I'll have some some uh advice for myself down the road I assume maybe if you just kind of have quiet maybe you plan on your fifth year option did you kind of understand you might have to be a squeaky wheel um stir things up maybe just a little uh in order to get some momentum yeah a little bit Yeah a squeaky wheel um that has to be silent sometimes no when to squeak uh just that whole balance but yeah how did you that balance um just leaning on my faith just like I said fallowing my heart certain days just being who I am being true to myself you've obviously known Ricky for quite some time what was it like the high of Thursday and Friday and then with with what happened to Ricky in the city yeah that was a um a very traumatic experience for all involved um just super happy super happy that he's alive we're able to see him and talk to him um but definitely definitely not the news that I was looking forward to on that day um but by the grace of God he's still here with us um and we're praying for him we love him and just wishing him a speed recovery like at the party when when he was able to FaceTime with you guys I didn't I wasn't I wasn't there at that point so I didn't get to talk to him on FaceTime I got to talk to John earlier that day um John was with them but I didn't I didn't I missed the FaceTime just coming back in start practicing again Trent just came in obviously what happened with Ricky is going to make a lot of people think about some things we got the regular season coming up is this team mentally are you there are you ready to be jump off right away into this season I guess we'll see where he's just asked correctly my but you got engaged recently yes ma'am so being that that took place throughout this process you got the contract behind you do you feel like you know it's a high time to go into week one against a big team and with a lot of hype around that game how do you kind of feel going into yeah I feel like that kind of goes into your question too um I feel like like I said I feel light I feel more ready than um if if it didn't go out this way so um I'm super excited feeling fresh feeling renewed coming with new energy so just excited to play football again what do you think of the match up Monday night with sauce that should be a hell of a match up yeah they got some good DBS they got a lot of guys that we know we know solah we know JK over there um we're familiar with their skin so it's going to be a good match up you go through a negotiation like this it's easy to just look at say just take the most money how much did you have to kind of you know dial back yourself say hey it's it's not just about the money it's about situation and longterm and quarterback all that kind of stuff like how how did you kind of you know factor in all the various things that going into um I think I just had uh I just had a feel for what I wanted um not just in terms of money but in all those teams that you said and ultim I wanted to be here um and I ended up being here so I'm I'm H I'm good I'm have I'm ready to go Brandon congrats first off on the new contract did this process get more difficult as all these other wide receivers were inking deals that were seemingly resetting the market I don't think more difficult um I wouldn't say more difficult uh because I mean our my dialogue was with the team and theirs was with me so um early on maybe you could say kind of played a part but um as we got deeper into the off season we we knew where we were at both sides knew where we were at and it was just a matter of getting there was the holding the process of being here every day while all that was going on you know Tre was holding out and then I guess did you even technically hold out with skipping those practices how how weird was that process being around while also negotiating this deal simultaneously it was tough it was tough that was probably the hardest part about the whole thing just uh because at that point you know you got the rest of the team involved I'm here every single day they're suting up getting to go out to practice um and I'm not so that was a hard part but um on that same tone I was able to be in meetings be able to go through all the stuff that they got to go through um and kind of still be involved um be get used to being here in the morning be used to being here all day um having the treatment having everything I need so um it was a little it was a little awkward but I think it worked out how it needed to last Wednesday before John didn't expect you to be in practice they were sounding very frustrated um but John said at that at that time that you know once things get done it's like kind of everything is forgot I don't know if there felt any Bru feelings during this time but is it true like once everything's done you're like I love you all uh I think uh I think uh I'm not going to lie I made it a little bit more difficult than it needed to at the end um but yeah it was I mean it was it it was like that from me from I I'm not going to say the whole entire time but uh for about the past month I think we were we were pretty good yeah you feeling more pressure on you after ining a deal like this to perform better or change anything um obviously you know uh yes but you know that was the reason why I wanted to get paid in such a manner because um that's the type player believe I am and that's the player I want to continue to be and that's the player that I strive to be so I think it's more so putting that pressure on myself um and four Pockets full all right thank you guys thank y'all