A headline that makes little sense, given the current state of the San Francisco 49ers’ wide receiver room. Against the Houston Texans in Week 8, out of 29 total targets, only one wide receiver was targeted more than five times. In Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano’s weekly notebook, that receiver, Jauan Jennings, could be dealt to another team by this time next week:
Much is made of Jakobi Meyers’ trade prospects out of Las Vegas, but let’s not forget about San Francisco’s Jauan Jennings, who also asked
for a trade in the offseason over the lack of a new deal. Despite nearly 1,000 yards in 2024, Jennings is off to a slower start this season, ranking fifth on the 49ers in receiving (212). Both sides could use a fresh start.
The 49ers brass can tell us how much they love Jennings all they want to, but there’s no denying how awkward the optics have been from the outside looking in. All offseason, we talked about how Jennings wanted a trade if he didn’t receive a new contract.
Jennings suffered a hip injury, sidelining him for much of August. To begin September, the 49ers added $3 million in playtime incentives to Jennings’ deal. It was also reported that Jauan turned down a multi-year contract.
A sideline spat during the two-minute drill between Jennings and Kyle Shanahan a couple of weeks ago may have been the final straw if Jennings does end up being dealt.
Shanahan may have been trying to protect Jennings from himself, who later revealed he was playing with five broken ribs. But he didn’t help himself postgame when Jennings told reporters, “ask him,” referring to Shanahan, about the back and forth on the sideline.
Jennings has given this team his everything. His hip started to feel better once there was an extension, but we can’t downplay the broken ribs, ankle sprains, and shoulder injury Jennings has sustained this season.
But it’s a business, and Jennings’ deal voids after this season. Despite him being drafted in the seventh round, it’s unlikely the 49ers will let him walk for nothing. If anything, Jennings is well aware of his play-time incentives, sees the writing on the wall with the receivers coming back, and may ask Kyle or John Lynch to be dealt.
There are plenty of wide receiver-needy teams around the NFL, so finding a home for Jennings shouldn’t be difficult. San Francisco only makes this trade if they’re confident Ricky Pearsall and Brandon Aiyuk are healthy. It would also help to get Demarcus Robinson on track.
Kendrick Bourne as your fourth wide receiver —at least until Jordan Watkins catches up —is OK. The issue the Niners have run into, like last week, is when Bourne and Jennings are their top targets. That won’t fly against the better defenses.
Shanahan chalked the conversation with Jennings up to two competitive people in the moment. He’s remained the focal point, at least among the wide receivers, of the 49ers’ passing game. Jennings’ seven targets against Houston last week were three more than Kendrick Bourne’s. On the season, Jennings is third in targets, despite missing multiple games. But something has been off. He’s only catching 51 percent of his targets. A lot of that is due to the lack of separation he’s creating, or some inexplicable drops.
According to Next Jen Stats, Jennings averaged only 1.6 yards of separation from Texans’ defenders. He was never a speedster, but the 49ers rely heavily on in-breaking routes. When that’s the case, you’re asking wide receivers to run away from the coverage. So it makes sense why the catch rate for Jennings has been a coin flip this season.
San Francisco may be content with getting the pick they traded away for Keion White in return for a Jennings trade. They squeezed every ounce they could out of Jennings, and understanding he’s unlikely to come back, the team gets some value in return.
