Jauan Jennings Reportedly Wants Big Money

The Vikings hosted former 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings for a visit a week ago. Since Jennings' departure from Minnesota, there has been very little new information on whether Jennings will eventually sign with the Vikings. However, we may finally be getting a clearer picture of why nothing has happened.

According to SI's Albert Breer, the five-year pro is looking for a sizeable chunk of money, seemingly more than teams are willing to offer him at this point in his career.

"First, you have players who may have overshot their markets in the first place," Breer wrote in a column looking at tiers of remaining free agents. "These things happen, and in some cases, it’s because of past experiences they had taking deals that might, in retrospect, look team-friendly. 49ers WR Jauan Jennings is a good example of that, looking for No. 2 receiver money."

That last bit is the part where the Vikings might have to walk away.

Jennings, who will be 29 when the season starts, has 2,581 receiving yards and 22 touchdowns on 210 receptions in his career. He has never gone over 1,000 yards in a season, coming close in 2024 (975 yards). That season was the only time he's gone over 700 receiving yards. Jennings finished the 2024 season with an 83.1 PFF offensive grade, which ranked 16th among wide receivers. He followed it up by posting a 67.1 grade in 2025 as San Francisco's primary receiver.

He has been thrust into the WR1 role in San Francisco over the past two years due to the mounting injuries to the 49ers' offensive weapons. However, many across the league don't see him continuing as a viable WR1 or even WR2 on a deeper team. In Minnesota, the former seventh-round pick would be used as a WR3 behind Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. It's Addison's future that makes Jennings' desire for WR2-type money a potential no-go for the Vikings.

Dec 14, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings (15) scores a touchdown against Tennessee Titans safety Amani Hooker (37) during the third quarter at Levi's Stadium. | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

First off, let's establish what WR2 money is. When looking at the list of wide receiver contracts on Over The Cap, Cincinnati's Tee Higgins is at the top of the WR2 money chart, earning around $28.7 million per year. The bottom end of that WR2 chart is around contracts Romeo Doubs and Rashid Shaheed signed this offseason with New England and Seattle, respectively. Both Doubs and Shaheed signed contracts that will pay them around $17 million per year.

Hypothetically, we can assume Jennings is looking for $17 million to $28 million per year.

With a potential big-money deal likely in the near future for Addison, dishing out that much money for Jennings doesn't fit in the Vikings' timeline.

Addison just turned 24 this offseason. Jennings didn't play a professional snap until he was 24 years old. Addison is much younger and has consistently produced at a WR2 level. Yes, there are off-the-field concerns that make any massive deal for Addison a concern, but the Vikings picking up his fifth-year option last month is an indicator that they'll try to extend him.

With a potential deal for Addison paying at last $20 million annually, along with Jefferson's mega contract, there is just no space in the Vikings' cap to afford three big contracts at the position. That leaves Jennings' pursuit of such a deal, at least in Minnesota, unlikely unless it's for only one year.

Oct 23, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison (3) reacts after making a touchdown during the second half at SoFi Stadium. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Jennings, with his career production so far and where Minnesota would use him, is more in the range of the deal that former Vikings receiver Jalen Nailor got with Las Vegas this offseason. Nailor inked a three-year, $35 million deal with the Raiders, paying out around $11.6 million per year.

Future Hall of Famer Mike Evans, 33, signed a three-year, $42.5 million contract with San Francisco this spring, paying him around $14 million per year. That is the upper end of deals for veteran receivers in their 30s, and much more in the range of what Minnesota should be looking for based on their current cap situation.

If that's too far of a drop for Jennings, then Minnesota can look at veteran options like Keenan Allen, DeAndre Hopkins, or even ex-Viking Stefon Diggs.

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