It was on the goal line. It was 99.999999 percent done. Brandon Aiyuk to the Steelers.
That was Andrew Fillipponi weeks ago.
But on Thursday, the San Francisco 49ers signed Aiyuk to an extension. According to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport on a "front-loaded" four-year, $120 million deal.
It comes with a reported $78 million in guaranteed money.
So, what happened?
Speaking on the PM Team Friday, Poni said if he gets information from the source that gave him the Aiyuk news, he would still use them.
“If the same person and then I got it confirmed from a different person, if those same two people gave me a story again, I would report it the same exact way,” said Poni.
Co-host Chris Mueller was behind Poni because he had heard about a possible Aiyuk deal to the Steelers.
Poni and Mueller then moved on to talk about how Omar Khan should’ve had a backup plan if the Aiyuk trade didn’t happen, which of course didn’t.
But some Fan callers took the opportunity to blame Poni.
“More of the blame goes to Poni for putting out that false report a couple weeks ago, you Jinxed us buddy,” said caller Steve.
Big Rico said he barely slept and after some time to calm down told Poni he needs to get rid of his sources.
“I got people texting me, my buddy from San Francisco laughing, they’re sending me funny texts,” said Big Rico.
In reality, it looks like a trade was about to happen, but something fell through for the Steelers at the last minute.
The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported after the deal that the Niners were only going to trade Aiyuk if they could get a “top-flight” wide receiver to take Aiyuk’s place.
San Francisco “offered a third-round pick to Denver for Courtland Sutton, and then would’ve dealt Aiyuk to the Steelers, but the Broncos declined the offer.”
Maybe things would’ve been different if the Steelers had not traded Diontae Johnson to Carolina.
The Steelers got cornerback Donte Jackson in that deal.