With the deadline for restricted free agents to sign their tenders nearing, the 49ers and Jauan Jennings will move to a distinct contractual phase. The parties are done with the RFA process due to a Wednesday extension agreement.
San Francisco’s No. 3 wide receiver agreed to terms on a two-year deal price as much as $15.4MM, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter reports. Of that total, $10.5MM is guaranteed. This effectively represents a one-year bump for Jennings, who was tied to the 49ers via a second-round RFA tender ($4.89MM) for 2024. The team has since announced the deal.
Considering the uncertain futures of Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk, this Jennings agreement — coming after the Ricky Pearsall first-round selection — may very well be necessary within the 49ers’ post-2024 plan. This may keep a key role player within the fold beyond this season, and with rumors about an Aiyuk-or-Samuel decision beyond 2024 — when Samuel, Brock Purdy, George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey will likely be in contract years — Jennings is now in place on a modest deal.
A former seventh-round pick, Jennings has made some pivotal contributions to the 49ers’ cause. He caught two second-half touchdown passes from Jimmy Garoppolo to clinch a Week 18 win over the Rams in 2021, ensuring the 49ers would qualify for the playoffs. Considering what that San Francisco edition still had within the tank, those proved to be crucial regular-season sequences. Jennings is now higher known for each throwing and catching a touchdown in Super Bowl LVIII. The auxiliary performer, a highschool quarterback who saw some QB motion at Tennessee as well, hit McCaffrey on a well-executed trick play in the primary half and caught a TD from Purdy to offer the 49ers a fourth-quarter lead.
Jennings, 26, plays a key role within the 49ers’ dominant ground attack as well. Pro Football Focus rated the fifth-year veteran because the league’s third-best run-blocking wideout last season. While Jennings rarely works as a starter, he has been an everyday during among the best periods in 49ers history. The 6-foot-3 performer played 489 offensive snaps in 2022 and 361 (in 13 games) last season. Jennings totaled 35 receptions for 416 yards in 2022 and added 265 yards on 19 grabs last season.
The 49ers have Aiyuk going right into a fifth-year option season and Samuel signed through 2025 on a three-year, $71.55MM deal. Trade talks involving each players transpired in the course of the draft, with teams believing the 49ers wanted a mid-first-round pick for Aiyuk. Samuel generated talks on Day 2, and the prospect of the 49ers paying the younger player and trading their 28-year-old run-after-catch dynamo has entered the equation. Though, Aiyuk talks haven’t progressed too far as of yet.
For now, the 49ers have an imposing quartet of receivers to throw at defenses. As Pearsall develops, the team has one in all the NFL’s top duos. Jennings, as today’s agreement shows, still aspects in prominently to the defending NFC champions’ big picture.
