Hogs Haven
There is certainly some fatigue surrounding the topic of Brandon Aiyuk potentially being cut by the 49ers and signed by the Commanders — a possibility that has been fed plenty of fuel by Aiyuk himself in the form of non-cryptic social media posts in which he has pretty much dared San Francisco to cut him, and literally danced with delight as he proclaimed that he would soon be on the Commanders roster.
One thing that struck me as I read comments from Commanders fans over the past couple of weeks, as the social media tempest continued daily, was that every fan — whether that fan thought the team should sign Aiyuk, or whether the fan was dead set against it — seemed to think the answer was obvious and one-sided.
But I felt like I was seeing just about equal numbers of fans on each side of the argument. It felt like the feelings of fans were neither one sided, nor particularly obvious.
So, it seemed to me to be a good time to use a Reacts survey to ‘take the temperature’ of the Hogs Haven members on the question of signing Aiyuk if he is cut by the Niners ahead of training camp.
In this week’s Reacts survey, we asked the question: If the 49ers cut him before training camp, do you WANT the Commanders to sign Brandon Aiyuk?
It turns out that Hogs Haven readers who responded to the survey are split almost in half between ‘yes’ and ‘no’; 50% of respondents answered ‘yes’, though about two-thirds of them qualified it with the caveat that Aiyuk’s contract shouldn’t have any guarantees. On the other side, 45% of respondents offered an unqualified ‘no’ to the idea of Adam Peters inking a deal with Brandon Aiyuk under any circumstances.
Those who oppose adding Aiyuk mostly point to what they perceive as erratic behavior with the 49ers and in his recent social media posts.
Other concerns included his health following a major injury, his age and length of time without playing a competitive football game, his overall conditioning, his ability to mesh with the rest of the team, and his ability to get up to speed on the offense.
Those in favor of signing Aiyuk mostly pointed to the need at the position (and lack of options in the free agent market), his relationship with Jayden Daniels (and sometimes with Adam Peters), and his past history as one of the league’s better receivers.
When the idea of a low- or no-risk contract was added, many commenters expressed a ‘why not?’ attitude towards a high-upside, limited-downside signing.
Veterans report to Commanders training camp in 25 days, so it should be no more than three weeks or so before we find out if the scenario laid out in the survey question is even a possibility. It’s been suggested by many commentators that Aiyuk can force the situation by applying for reinstatement and showing up...
