It’s early, but it seems unlikely Brandon Aiyuk ever will live up to the outrageous contract extension the 49ers gave him this offseason.

He could have signed a deal in May that would have paid him $26 million per season, but he held out until September to get a deal that’s worth $30 million per season. So he made himself a target of criticism. And through three games this season, he hasn’t produced. He has just 11 catches on a whopping 20 targets for 119 yards and 0 touchdowns. That’s a career-low 10.8 yards per catch. Last season, he averaged 17.9 yards per catch. He looks like a shell of himself.

To be fair, players who hold out of training camp almost always struggle to start the season. CeeDee Lamb did the same thing Aiyuk did this offseason and hasn’t lived up to his standards yet this season, either. So it’s likely Aiyuk will bounce back to a degree.

But the 49ers never will feature Aiyuk enough to justify paying him $30 million per season. And that’s because Jauan Jennings exists. As long as Jennings is on the 49ers, he should get more targets than Aiyuk because Jennings has improved while Aiyuk has regressed.

Jennings is a better all-around wide receiver than Aiyuk. Aiyuk is simply faster than Jennings, but Jennings is averaging 15.3 yards per catch this season, which means he’s playing faster than Aiyuk.

Knowing what the 49ers do now if they could go back in time and trade Aiyuk to the Steelers, I’m guessing they would.