NFL
Details of Jauan Jennings’ new contract with the San Francisco 49ers
The wide receiver threw a touchdown pass in Super Bowl LVIII, in addition to adding five receptions for 42 yards and a touchdown.
The San Francisco 49ers have improved their wide receiver alliance, led by Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk, by retaining Jauan Jennings. The 26-year-old, who up until now had been a restricted free agent, has signed for two more seasons with the NFC West franchise.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter had initially reported that Jennings has agreed to extend his contract with San Francisco until 2026 and would earn up to $15.4 million on meeting certain objectives. Agent Drew Rosenhaus added that the Tennessee graduate will receive $10.5 million guaranteed. However, Jennings did not sign his free-agent tender which means that technically, this is a one-year extension through the 2025 season, as the Niners have since confirmed.
The new contract guaranteed Jennings more money than he would have earned had he accepted the organization’s initial offer. The restricted free agent tender would have paid him $4.89 million to play for the Niners in 2024. If another team had agreed to a contract with Jennings, the Niners would have received a second-round draft pick.
Jennings stood out during the playoffs of the 2023 NFL season as the third option behind Samuel and Aiyuk. His best performance was in Super Bowl LVIII as he threw a touchdown pass in connection with Christian McCaffrey, in addition to adding four receptions for 42 yards and a touchdown. He proved his worth to the Niners in last season’s playoffs with 10 receptions for 111 yards.
The 26-year-old wide receiver has three years of NFL experience and has 78 receptions for 963 yards and seven touchdowns.
Who are the San Francisco 49ers’ wide receivers?
Currently, the 49ers have 10 wide receivers under contract and have yet to sign rookie Ricky Pearsall, whom they drafted in the first round of the last Draft. It is a certainty that Samuel will be the WR1, Aiyuk the WR2 and, after the extension, Jennings the WR3. Pearsall aims to compete for fourth place with Chris Conley, Danny Gray and Ronnie Bell.
With Jennings committed, the 49ers’ will now turn their attention to Brandon Aiyuk, with whom they hope to sign to a long-term extension. The team now has more flexibility to move salary-cap hits around by bypassing rigid one-year tender process.
Aiyuk will soon be coming to the end of a four-year contract worth $12,531,342 - $12,531,342 guaranteed. In 2024, he will earn a base salary of $14,124,000, while carrying a cap hit of $14,124,000 and a dead cap value of $14,124,000.