Kendrick Bourne: Brandon Aiyuk would be great fit for Patriots

Kendrick Bourne played with Brandon Aiyuk when he was a member of the 49ers and he'd like to do so again.

Bourne left the 49ers for the Patriots as a free agent in 2020, which was Aiyuk's rookie season with the NFC West club. Aiyuk is now in the final year of his rookie contract and his future has been the subject of much discussion because he hasn't received an extension yet.

49ers General Manager John Lynch said on Monday that the 49ers want to keep Aiyuk, but the prospect of a trade won't go away as long as Aiyuk is without a new deal. While it's unclear whether the Patriots would be bidders if Aiyuk does go on the market, Bourne made it clear that he would push for such a deal.

“I want Aiyuk," Bourne said, via Khari Thompson of Boston.com. "He’s my guy, and I think he’ll fit in. Just being a one-on-one receiver at X. He can take a whole half of the field and dominate and create a lot of attention for himself. That’s big in our offense, the X receiver? . . . I know him pretty well. We had a good relationship when he first came in as a rookie. I was in year three, I believe. I kind of was just teaching him the ins and outs in the beginning when we worked out together in the offseason. We got along pretty well. I’ve posted a couple things, we’ve got handshakes and stuff. So, we’ve always been pretty connected and have gelled naturally.”

Most people expect the Patriots to land their quarterback of the future in the first round on Thursday night. Aiyuk's outlook is tougher to predict, but his presence would be a plus for any quarterback and any offense.