49ers Rumors: SF 'Confident' in Brandon Aiyuk Contract to Keep WR 'for the Long Haul' | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

Brandon Aiyuk's future with the San Francisco 49ers has been a major talking point this offseason, and the NFC West team reportedly remains "confident" it will sign him despite the uncertainty.

ESPN's Nick Wagoner reported Wednesday that "a deal doesn't appear to be imminent, but the 49ers remain confident something will get done to keep Aiyuk for the long haul."

He pointed to previous contract negotiations with players such as George Kittle, Fred Warner, Deebo Samuel and Nick Bosa that lasted well into the summer. Still, the wide receiver, who is not participating in the voluntary part of San Francisco's offseason program, has been under the spotlight this offseason.

There was a report from Dianna Russini of The Athletic ahead of the draft that said the 49ers discussed moving up by trading either Aiyuk or Deebo Samuel. There was his agent, Ryan Williams, denying that Aiyuk requested a trade.

And there was also the time when the wide receiver seemed to suggest "money talks, bulls--t walks" in response to comments from general manager John Lynch saying the team was working on a contract extension and not a trade:

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On Friday, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler (h/t Jordan Elliott of NBC Sports Bay Area) said, "They have been talking, they have been negotiating. Nothing imminent as of yet, but there's certainly a chance. I was told the benchmark here is [Detroit Lions wide receiver] Amon-Ra St. Brown because he got $28 million [per] year on a four-year deal from Detroit. The goal as it appears is for Aiyuk to try to beat that.

"He doesn't need to be the highest paid in the league, but he's done enough and accomplished enough in that offense where he's probably going to need to be at that number or higher."

For now, Aiyuk is entering the final year of his contract.

It may take some time to change that, but the 49ers appear to at least be making progress toward a long-term deal with ongoing discussions as they attempt to maintain the key parts of the roster that reached last season's Super Bowl.