Minnesota Vikings linebacker Jonathan Greenard exchanges postgame handshakes with Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford following their NFC wild-card matchup at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Jan. 13, 2025. Greenard capped a powerful debut season in Minnesota by rising as one of many Vikings’ most disruptive defensive gamers all through the 2024 marketing campaign underneath coordinator Brian Flores. Obligatory Credit score: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Photographs.
On Friday, April twenty fourth, the Minnesota Vikings offloaded exterior linebacker Jonathan Greenard and a Seventh-Spherical decide, sending the package deal to the Philadelphia Eagles for 2 Third-Rounders. Two weeks later, the group’s followers declare newly signed huge receiver Jauan Jennings is part of the deal by default.
Minnesota’s Greenard deal could have created a wider payoff than anticipated.
The Vikings signed Jennings final Thursday, and since the membership freed up cap house with the Greenard commerce, the working concept is that Jennings is certainly a part of the commerce.
Jennings Offers Kevin O’Connell the Insurance coverage Piece He Wanted
Do you embrace Jennings within the Greenard commerce fallout?
San Francisco 49ers huge receiver Jauan Jennings celebrates a landing on Dec. 14, 2025, throughout first-quarter motion in opposition to the Tennessee Titans at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. Jennings continued constructing a repute as one of many NFL’s extra dependable complementary huge receivers, mixing bodily route-running, red-zone usefulness, and powerful blocking traits right into a beneficial all-around offensive position. Obligatory Credit score: Kyle Terada-Imagn Photographs.
The New Approach to Spin It
SKOR North‘s Thor Nystrom led the cost, tweeting Thursday, “Final transaction (basically) for the Vikings…Vikings get: WR Jauan Jennings, No. 98 (S Jakobe Thomas), 2027 R3. Vikings give: EDGE Jonathan Greenard, No. 244 (S Cole Wisniewski).”
Had the Vikings not traded Greenard — as an alternative paying him $100 million over the following 4 years — affording Jennings could not have been within the playing cards, or so the idea goes.
A Candy Deal if So
After all, one should be expansive in a single’s thought course of to incorporate Jennings within the commerce: Jennings wasn’t a part of the Eagles’ roster. It’s much like together with T.J. Hockenson within the Vikings’ 2023 draft class, for the reason that membership traded for him in 2022 utilizing 2023 draft picks.
Nonetheless, if Jennings have been included pound for pound within the swap — mainly Nystrom’s assertion — the deal seems all of the extra engaging. Minnesota already grabbed Thomas from the draft as fruit from the commerce; one other Third-Rounder will enter the combo subsequent April.
The Vikings could not have been in a position to afford Jennings in the event that they prolonged Greenard — until they restructured present gamers’ offers and kicked the can down the highway on future wage caps — so noting his arrival as fallout from the Greenard commerce is truthful.
Jennings’s Historical past
Foremost, Minnesota will get this documented manufacturing for its new wideout:
2022: 35 catches | 416 yards | 1 TD2023: 19 catches | 265 yards | 1 TD2024: 77 catches | 975 yards | 6 TDs2025: 55 catches | 643 yards | 9 TDs
If Jennings can mix his 2024 yardage totals along with his 2025 landing manufacturing, O’Connell’s offense will expertise a speedy enhance. Jennings has already confirmed himself as a reputable WR3, eliminating the necessity for Minnesota to hope for his eventual growth.
Past that, Jennings provides candy depth. Ought to Justin Jefferson or Jordan Addison miss time, he gives a dependable WR2 choice, stopping the Vikings from having to thrust a younger participant right into a demanding position prematurely. Name it insurance coverage for the just-in-case.
His contributions prolong to blocking, too, an oft-underappreciated facet of the game. Jennings stands out as one of many NFL’s premier blocking huge receivers. Whereas this may appear to be a minor element, gamers primarily recognized for this ability typically have restricted offensive roles, a pitfall Jennings avoids. For example, former Viking Trent Sherfield was a helpful blocker however had a largely restricted offensive position.
Jennings, nonetheless, provides a extra full package deal. In 2024, Professional Soccer Focus awarded him a 73.8 run-blocking grade. Whereas huge receiver blocking isn’t a main think about participant signings and should not excite followers in Could, it’s a beneficial asset that Vikings coaches undoubtedly respect. Jennings has versatility. Consider it that means.
Minnesota Vikings linebacker Jonathan Greenard tackles Los Angeles Rams working again Kyren Williams through the playoffs on Jan. 13, 2025, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale. Greenard rapidly turned one of many Vikings’ most necessary defenders after arriving in Minnesota, supplying constant strain, sturdy edge-setting potential, and disruptive manufacturing inside Brian Flores’ aggressive defensive system. Obligatory Credit score: Joseph Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK through Imagn Photographs.
Finally, his main enchantment lies in offering the Vikings with a way more strong WR3 choice and beneficial depth behind Jefferson and Addison. A practical, although tough, consideration includes potential accidents. What if Jefferson or Addison have been to endure an harm this summer season? Whereas nobody needs to dwell on such potentialities, NFL rosters are virtually invariably examined.
With out Jennings, a major harm to both Jefferson or Addison would go away the Vikings with a a lot thinner receiving corps. For example, if Jefferson have been sidelined, the highest three receivers in September could possibly be Addison, Tai Felton, and Myles Value. That may spell panic. Addison, Jennings, and Felton is way completely different than Addison, Felton, and Value.
Whereas some may recommend the Vikings might merely run the ball extra, O’Connell has made his offensive philosophy clear: he prefers to throw the soccer. Jennings helps keep that offensive identification.
Greatest WR Trio for the reason that Glory Days
The Vikings have employed respectable WR3s over time, together with Jalen Nailor, Ok.J. Osborn, Jerome Simpson, and Bernard Berrian, to call a couple of.
Jauan Jennings leaps into the group after scoring a landing on Sep. 14, 2025, through the San Francisco 49ers’ highway matchup in opposition to the New Orleans Saints at Caesars Superdome. Jennings carved out a bigger offensive position in San Francisco by means of bodily play, reliable arms, and a capability to provide in high-leverage moments all through the common season. Obligatory Credit score: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Photographs.
However with Jennings in the home, and assuming Jefferson, Addison, and he keep wholesome, the present threesome is Minnesota’s finest on paper for the reason that days of Randy Moss, Cris Carter, and Jake Reed. There are nonetheless posters and shirts with “Three Deep” round within the Twin Cities.
Jefferson-Addison-Jennings gained’t fairly replicate Three Deep, however it’s the closest factor to it since 1999.
Dustin Baker is a novelist and political scientist. His second novel, The Invaders , is out now. So is … Extra about Dustin Baker
