Kurtenbach: Why Brandon Aiyuk’s absence matters for the 49ers, and why Trent Williams’ doesn’t

Brandon Aiyuk and Trent Williams are holding out (and in) for new contracts.

There are two things an NFL player can do at the beginning of training camp if they’re amid contract extension negotiations with their team.

They can show up but not practice — a hold-in.

Or they don’t show up at all. That’s called a holdout.

(And sure, there’s a third thing players can do in such a situation: show up and do the job they are contracted to do, but who would actually do that?)

On Wednesday, when the Niners opened Training Camp 2024, All-Pro wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk chose the former. All-Pro offensive tackle Trent Williams chose the latter.

Only one of these developments will affect the 49ers’ this season.

Williams, who is seeking a raise that will make him the highest-paid left tackle in football, might be the most important player in the NFL in 2024 — he holds the 49ers’ offensive line and, in turn, offense together. To call him a linchpin would be undercutting his impact. No, Williams is more like a retaining wall — if he goes down, it all comes down around him.

And yet his unexcused absence from training camp means almost nothing to the 49ers.

Meanwhile, Aiyuk surprised many — including myself — by reporting to camp this week amid what has been a long, drama-filled offseason. And while he is there, he subsequently did his best Ezal from Friday impression. To quote the classic:

“I’m hurt. Oh, my neck, my back, my neck and my back. Oh, I want $150,000, but we can settle out of court right now for twenty bucks.”

The money, of course, is of much larger denominations for Aiyuk.

So why is Williams missing practice not a big deal but Aiyuk hanging on the sideline a problem?

Well, to start, Williams never practices.

Williams’ attitude, at least in recent years with the Niners is that he’ll turn it on for Sunday. And his commitment to staying out of the fray on the practice field is so unwavering that even his head coach, Kyle Shanahan, jokes about it.

“He refuses to bend his knees in walk-through,” Shanahan said. “It’s more to mess with me… I trust the man.”

And It has his position coach, Chris Foerster, making me feel sadness for the team’s swing tackle, Jaylon Moore, too.

“He’s got the most thankless job in the world,” Foerster said of Moore in May. “He spends the whole offseason, the whole preseason being our starting left tackle. It precludes him from competing at right guard or right tackle because somebody has to go play our left tackle spot and be there when [QB Brock] Purdy’s in the game or when we’re trying to get things going. So, he’s kind of locked into that perennial backup role.”

All this to say that Williams not practicing isn’t much of a change from the typical day-to-day for the 49ers.

You can check back with me on the Williams situation when the Niners are in an actual game week. Until then, the only thing that’s really happening with Williams is that he’s being fined for not showing up to work.

But in a way, he had to hold out to make his point to the 49ers — he’s effectively been holding in for years.

Aiyuk, on the other hand, does practice.

And while the wide receiver has cleverly decided to show up to camp but not practice — he’s avoiding fines but not risking his health by playing — he is putting himself and the 49ers’ offense in a tough spot by not being on the field.

It’s important to not forget that this is Brock Purdy’s first full training camp as the 49ers’ starting quarterback. Yes, Purdy is in Year 3 of his incredible career, but in his first year, he started camp as the team’s No. 4 quarterback, only moving up one spot by the end of the preseason, and last year he was coming off of an internal brace surgery in his elbow, limiting the amount of times he could throw and the velocity of those throws.

Now Purdy can let it rip as often and as far as he wants.

Shanahan has been excited about the possibility since the immediate sting of the team’s Super Bowl loss wore off.

I fully expect the 49ers’ offense to show serious evolution this upcoming season. Specifically, I’m expecting more spread-out looks on early downs and perhaps a few more 11 personnel looks that can emulate — or perhaps even replicate — the success of Shanahan’s protégés in L.A., Houston, and Green Bay.

Shanahan finally has his quarterback and in many ways that should bring about the ultimate Shanahan offense for the 2024 Niners.

And the top player in any true Shanahan offense is the ‘X’ receiver.

That’s Aiyuk’s job.

Aiyuk deserves to be paid big bucks, and I’m still convinced his representatives and the Niners can find a reasonable compromise at some point in the next few weeks.

But Purdy is getting serious training camp reps for the first time, Shanahan is expanding his offense, and the Niners are trying to build momentum ahead of Week 1 of a season that won’t mean a thing if it doesn’t end with a win in Week 22.

This is the time to be building chemistry with a quarterback — to be establishing oneself in an offense that is looking for that clear-cut No. 1 option.

Aiyuk’s hold-in might be understandable, but his not practicing hurts him (what if another receiver thrives in the X role?) and the team. (Can you trust the things you only practice with a backup?)

There is, of course, an easy solution to both of these absenteeism problems — the Niners can pay these stars what they want.

I think they will.

But in the meantime, it’s only Aiyuk’s absence on the practice field that matters for the Niners’ upcoming season.