The San Francisco 49ers took care of another significant wideout-related matter on Wednesday while they kept up their efforts to sign receiver Brandon Aiyuk to a long-term contract deal.
Jauan Jennings, a restricted free agent, agreed to a two-year contract with the Niners that would keep him in San Francisco through the 2025 season. Jennings has evolved as the team’s dependable third receiver option over the previous three seasons.
Jennings completed this arrangement, which is similar to a one-year extension, rather than signing his restricted free agency offer.
According to agents Drew and Jason Rosenhaus, the deal is for up to $15.4 million, with $10.5 million guaranteed, stated that.
Since he and the Niners were working on a contract, Jennings was not technically under contract, so he had not been taking part in team activities. San Francisco gave Jennings a second-round tender in March, allowing him to look for a new contract elsewhere. In the event that the Niners declined an outside offer, they would have the option to match it or earn a second-round selection.
Jennings was not in Santa Clara for OTAs even though he had not signed his tender and had not received any outside offers. However, Jennings was present on the field on Wednesday during the Niners’ second open-access practice.
Niners general manager John Lynch expressed interest in reaching an agreement with Jennings during the NFL combine in February. The 49ers have done similar short-term deals with key players such as linebacker Dre Greenlaw and right tackle Colton McKivitz in prior seasons.
Formerly selected in the sixth round out of Tennessee, Jennings is one of the team’s top outside run blockers and has participated in 45 regular-season games with 78 receptions for 963 yards and seven touchdowns.
In the event that the 49ers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII, Jennings might have been named the MVP of the contest. He had four catches for 42 yards and a touchdown and tossed a 21-yard touchdown pass to running back Christian McCaffrey before the Niners succumbed 25-22 in overtime.
“I think every single person in the NFL that watches tape, every general manager, every scout, anybody that watches tape, they look at Jauan’s film and they’re like, ‘Holy cow, this guy is one of one,'” George Kittle, a tight end, said. “His mindset and his attitude when he’s on a football field is completely different. He goes to that dark place that Coach Shanahan will talk about with like Pierre Garcon and he just is very violent in the way that he plays the game, which you don’t see in all receivers. He will hit defensive ends as hard as he can. He’ll hit linebackers as hard as he can. He’s not scared of anything.”
Meanwhile, Aiyuk is currently negotiating the terms of what is expected to be a much larger and longer arrangement. He has not been taking part in the offseason program’s optional component.
