ESPN: Jets close in to sign 49ers mega star in a blockbuster deal.

When the two teams play on Monday Night Football, the New York Jets will need to figure out a way to stop wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk of the San Francisco 49ers.

However, Aiyuk wouldn’t be on the Jets’ scouting report this week if things had gone differently. However, twice this season, he would have been on their scouting report.

Aiyuk did not take part in training camp or preseason for the 49ers because he was pursuing a new deal. A new story in Sports Illustrated shows how close three different clubs came to making a trade for him.

In the end, he agreed to a new $120 million, four-year contract with the 49ers that included $76 million in guarantees.

However, he nearly got traded. The New England Patriots, the Jets’ AFC East foe, was one of the teams participating.

The Patriots reportedly made Aiyuk and his agent two offers: one averaged $30 million over three years, while the other was more than $32 million annually over four years, according to SI.

According to reports, New England was prepared to give up a player, a third-round pick in 2026, and a second-round pick in 2025.

Former San Francisco player Kendrick Bourne was requested by the 49ers. It’s unclear if the request killed the agreement. His ACL damage is being healed.

The Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers were the other two participating clubs. Who came closest to a deal? The Steelers.

It looks like the Jets got away with it in this regard. After all, given the schedule for AFC vs. NFC games, would New York want to play a wide receiver of Aiyuk’s caliber once every four years or twice a year for the next three or four years? The 49ers are not scheduled to play the Jets until 2028.

For the last two seasons, he has performed at a high level for San Francisco. He hauled in 75 catches for 1,342 yards and seven scores in the previous season. All-Pro Second Team was given to him.

The 2020 first-round selection caught 78 catches for 1,015 yards and eight touchdowns in 2022.