There has been a lot of uncertainty around the wide receiver room for the San Francisco 49ers during the preseason, but everything is falling into place just before Week 1. On Wednesday, just days after wideout Jauan Jennings returned to practice after dealing with a calf injury, he finally reached a long-awaited agreement with the team on his contract for this season.
Jennings and the team had been at odds over the deal, but now they have reached a resolution. The 49ers have added $3 million in incentives centered around playing time to his deal for the season, giving him the potential to earn up to $10.5 million for the year according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
“Another pre-Sunday deal: the 49ers and Jauan Jennings reached agreement on a deal that will add $3 million in play-time incentives to the wide receiver’s contract, per his agents Drew and Jason Rosenhaus,” Schefter reported on X, formerly Twitter. “Now, instead of earning $7.5 million this season, Jennings can earn up to $10.5 million.”
Now, with Brandon Aiyuk sidelined with an injury, Kyle Shanahan and company will have their other top wideout ready to go for Week 1 against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
Jennings emerged as huge piece of this 49ers offense last season and became one of Brock Purdy’s favorite targets in the passing game. He is a reliable wideout who caught 77 balls for 975 yards and six touchdowns in his breakout 2024 season.
Aiyuk will start the regular season on the Physically Unable to Perform list, meaning he will miss at least the first four games of the regular season. That means that Jennings and Ricky Pearsall will come into Week 1 as the top wide receiver options for the 49ers and should see a lot of work in the passing game, with George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey eating up a lot of targets as well.
It remains to be seen what will happen with Jennings and his contract situation next offseason, but it seems like the two sides are content to push it off until then similar to the Cincinnati Bengals and Trey Hendrickson. Now, Jennings will have a chance to increase his market value this season with another big year in the Bay Area.