49ers' Kyle Shanahan makes big understatement in explaining Brandon Aiyuk's importance to Brock Purdy

The San Francisco 49ers are working towards the task of signing Brandon Aiyuk, with their motivation to do so based in large part around his importance to quarterback Brock Purdy.

Aiyuk has been the subject of trade speculation, which general manager John Lynch emphatically dismissed on Monday, with many believing the Niners will struggle to keep two high-paid receivers on the roster. The 49ers signed Deebo Samuel to a three-year, $71 million extension in 2022.

Aiyuk did not appear to take kindly to Lynch's comments at NFL's annual meetings, responding in a post on social media that indicated he and the Niners are still a long way from reaching a resolution.

But, speaking on Tuesday, Shanahan expressed optimism a deal will get done "sooner rather than later", identifying the rapport between Purdy and Aiyuk as a key reason why they need to tie the latter to a long-term contract.

"You've just got to be patient," Shanahan said about the Aiyuk negotiations. "You've got to let it play itself out, not get involved in it. And usually when you're in a situation like we are, where you got a real good player who wants to be here, and we want the player to be here extremely bad, too, what I found with us is it doesn't always happen right away. But it's a matter of time before it works out."

Of Aiyuk's value to Purdy, he added: "That's huge. I mean, it's hard to be successful at quarterback if you don't have real good receivers. So it starts there with Brandon, and I think that's real big for Brock in his future, making sure we got a good group for him going forward."

Aiyuk had the best season of his career with Purdy at quarterback last season, racking 1,342 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.

And a look at the more advanced efficiency numbers suggests Shanahan is underselling Aiyuk's importance to Purdy.

Per nflindex.com, Purdy averaged 0.793 Expected Points Added per play on the 97 plays in 2023 (excluding those called back by penalty) that saw him target Aiyuk. For context, Purdy led all quarterbacks in 2023 with an EPA per passing play of 0.325 (including rushes it was 0.338).