CeeDee Lamb extension makes Brandon Aiyuk foolish for rejecting Patriots offer

The new regime leading the Patriots made it very clear they were actively looking to add a top name receiver this offseason, whether in free agency or via trade. They first pursued Calvin Ridley, who ultimately chose to sign with the Titans, and made a hefty offer to the 49ers in a trade for Brandon Aiyuk, until they eventually took it off the table.

The disgruntled receiver has expressed his desire to receive a contract extension from San Francisco, and if it's not going to happen there, then he wants to play elsewhere. That has led to a handful of teams inquiring about getting a trade done, with the Patriots going all-out to add Aiyuk to their receiving corps.

They had a lot of competition in their pursuit, however, with the Steelers and Commanders reportedly also in the mix. Those were teams that Aiyuk preferred to be traded to, leading to him not entertaining the Patriots' offer and explaining why they chose to rescind it.

While many Patriots fans and reporters believed he would regret that decision, the latest news regarding the Cowboys extending CeeDee Lamb appears to make it even more of a regrettable decision by Aiyuk.

Brandon Aiyuk deciding to pass on the Patriots trade offer might come back to haunt him

Among the few wide receivers looking for new contracts this offseason was CeeDee Lamb, the Cowboys leading receiver over the past four years. The perennial 1,000 receiving-yard player has become a fixture at the top of the league's best receivers, which warranted the 4-year, $136 million extension with $100 million guaranteed.

He becomes the second-highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history, sitting just behind Vikings' Justin Jefferson, who also received a new contract earlier this offseason. Lamb will be making $34 million a season, which is around what Aiyuk has been looking for in an extension.

Reports have revealed that the Patriots offered Aiyuk a 4-year contract extension that would pay him upwards of $32 million a year, which was said to be the best offer on the table at the time.

Because he preferred to go where he wanted to go and win the ongoing saga with the 49ers, Aiyuk scoffed at the Patriots' offer, citing their less-than-ideal quarterback situation as a reason he didn't want to go there. That didn't quite add up, given one of his preferred teams is the Steelers who are in a worse situation than New England, but it is what it is.

Now that Lamb has received this new contract, Aiyuk will probably have a difficult time getting a matching offer from any of the teams reportedly still hoping to complete a deal. It's fair to argue that the Cowboys receiver is a better talent than Aiyuk, which makes him worthy of more money. If the other teams involved, including the 49ers, haven't even reached that $34 million threshold, then it's unlikely they will now.

It makes Aiyuk look even more foolish for not seriously considering what the Patriots offered, especially since he would have been the immediate WR1 and among the top-3 highest-paid receivers in the league immediately.

Unfortunately, that ship has sailed, and now he must hope he gets close to the deal he initially hoped for.

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