The Plot Thickens for Vikings and Jauan Jennings

San Francisco 49ers extensive receiver Jauan Jennings sprints into the tip zone for a landing throughout second-half motion towards the Chicago Bears, ending the play on Dec 28, 2025, in Santa Clara, California, as he capped a scoring drive at Levi’s Stadium in a late-season NFC matchup. Obligatory Credit score: Kyle Terada-Imagn Photos.

The Minnesota Vikings hosted free-agent extensive receiver Jauan Jennings for a go to late final week, sparking followers’ curiosity and intrigue to the utmost. A couple of days later, Jennings has not signed wherever, together with the Vikings, and the holdup could also be his asking worth.

The Vikings’ WR3 search now hinges on worth, persistence, and the way badly Kevin O’Connell needs Jennings.

Based on SI.com‘s Albert Breer, Jennings needs “WR2 money,” which in all probability explains why no staff has signed him by two months of free company.

Jennings’s Asking Worth Might Be the Actual Impediment

The penny-pinching Vikings could also be priced out of Jennings’s market.

San Francisco 49ers extensive receiver Jauan Jennings celebrates after scoring in the course of the second half towards the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. Jennings continued flashing the bodily, hard-nosed model that has made him one of many NFL’s extra reliable complementary receivers. The play got here throughout a matchup on Sep. 22, 2024, in Inglewood, California. Obligatory Credit score: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Photos.

Breer: Jennings Desires WR2 Cash

Tucked inside a post-draft article from Breer, Jennings’s title surfaced: “With the draft now in the rear-view mirror, it would be a good time to give you the different categories of May free agents. First, you have players who may have overshot their markets in the first place. 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. Chargers G Mekhi Becton might be another one, who simply thought he had more value than the rest of the league did. Browns TE David Njoku is a little older, but I’d say he’s in this group, too.”

Vikings followers have questioned why Jennings didn’t signal final week; there’s the reply.

So, What’s WR2 Cash?

Excessive-end WR2 cash is kind of astounding, maybe approaching $25 million yearly for gamers like De’Vonta Smith and Davante Adams. On the low finish, the Las Vegas Raiders simply signed Jalen Nailor, a former Viking, for $12 million per season.

If one assumes that Jennings needs one thing within the center, he’s in all probability requesting round $18 million for his 2026 companies, which might clarify the Vikings’ hesitation to make the leap. In spite of everything, this is similar franchise that simply traded Jonathan Greenard as a result of — checks notes — it didn’t have the money to afford his extension price $25 million per yr.

Suppose Jennings really needs WR2 cash; that determine is probably going between $15 million and $21 million per yr. Possibly extra.

San Francisco 49ers extensive receiver Jauan Jennings races towards the tip zone after a fourth-quarter catch towards the New Orleans Saints at Caesars Superdome. Jennings offered one other instance of his run-after-catch skill and toughness in open house in the course of the contest on Sep. 14, 2025, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Obligatory Credit score: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Photos.

The Athletic‘s Alec Lewis said last week about Jennings’s go to with the Vikings: “That go to was all the time sort of an exploratory kind of really feel. It was by no means billed as ‘Jauan Jennings is coming here, it’s signing, achieved deal, over with and achieved for.’

“It was always more of a, ‘Hey, you come meet us. We’re going to spend time with you, see where you’re at, talk through everything, fit, role, what we’re about, what this building is about, and then, obviously, some of the financial ideas with where both sides stand.’”

Jennings’s Manufacturing

Jennings to the Vikings is a implausible concept, however WR2 cash is pushing it. Right here’s his manufacturing resume by 5 seasons:

2021: 24 Rec | 282 Rec Yards | 5 TD2022: 35 Rec | 416 Rec Yards | 1 TD2023: 19 Rec | 265 Rec Yards | 1 TD2024: 77 Rec | 975 Rec Yards | 6 TDs2025: 55 Rec | 643 Rec Yards | 9 TDs

The playmaker will flip 29 this summer season, and paying a person who’s by no means topped 1,000 yards in a season over $15 million doesn’t seem to be savvy enterprise. The truth is, his resume reads like a high-end WR3 at his greatest, with WR3 numbers (or decrease) in 4 of 5 campaigns.

If Minnesota needed WR3 manufacturing on a smaller scale subsequent to Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, it ought to’ve re-signed Nailor and saved issues easy.

The FA WR Options

Jennings has one factor going for him amid the present free-agent WR market: relative youth. The opposite choices for the Vikings and different groups are outdated. That’s simply the way in which it’s this spring and summer season. There are exactly zero wideouts round age 27 ready to be plucked off the wire.

San Francisco 49ers extensive receiver Jauan Jennings strains up throughout second-quarter motion towards the Jacksonville Jaguars at Levi’s Stadium. Jennings entered the 2025 season with rising expectations after rising as a dependable goal in San Francisco’s offense. The sport befell on Sep. 28, 2025, in Santa Clara, California. Obligatory Credit score: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Photos.

The market has alluring names, however the candidates are previous their primes:

Keenan Allen

Stefon Diggs

Tyreek Hill

DeAndre Hopkins

Deebo Samuel

JuJu Smith-Schuster

The Vikings might additionally discover a commerce for Brandon Aiyuk, although the 49ers are taking part in hardball along with his contractual standing.

Diggs, too, is on the market, and he was discovered not responsible Tuesday for felony assault and strangulation expenses.

Dustin Baker is a novelist and political scientist. His second novel, The Invaders , is out now. So is … Extra about Dustin Baker