Amid rampant rumors surrounding Brandon Aiyuk, Christian McCaffrey may have made a noticeable slip when commenting on the wide receiver’s situation.
Aiyuk is not practicing with the San Francisco 49ers as he seeks a new contract or trade. The 49ers have reportedly reached a framework for deals with the New England Patriots and Cleveland Browns while negotiating with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
During Tuesday’s training camp, McCaffrey conducted an interview with NFL Network. Steve Wyche asked the star running back how 49ers players are dealing with Aiyuk’s absence when McCaffrey made an interesting word choice he tried taking back.
“I don’t deal with it. That’s not part of my job. That’s not part of my position.” McCaffrey said. “Obviously as a former teammate … or teammate of his in general — any teammate you have — you love, you respect them. You want the best for them.”
McCaffrey elaborated more on his position, but everyone was likely already too busy clipping the part where he called Aiyuk a “former teammate.”
“I stay out of it completely,” McCaffrey added. “That’s way above my pay grade, I just try to focus on what I can do every single day. But obviously, we always wish the best for any of our teammates, whether they’re here or not. Obviously, we hope he’s here.”
Perhaps McCaffrey is privy to an upcoming trade, or maybe he’s just speculating like those who rushed to inaccurately claim a deal already happened Monday. The running back also could have just legitimately misspoke.
Either way, time is running out for the 49ers to resolve their Aiyuk situation before opening their season on Monday, Sept. 9.
