Insider Gives Interesting Update on Failed Jauan Jennings Trade

Just days after landing veteran three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner in a trade, the San Francisco 49ers looked to bring back another one of their former players in a trade.

They reportedly had a trade agreement in place with the Minnesota Vikings to acquire wide receiver Jauan Jennings, who had left them during the offseason to sign a one-year deal with Minnesota. But according to Jay Glazer of Fox Sports, the trade was nixed because Jennings wanted to stay put and didn’t want to return to San Francisco.

Now, another NFL insider is casting some doubt on what Glazer reported about how and why that trade fell apart.

Was there another reason the trade fell apart?

Ian Rapoport went on “The Pat McAfee Show” and gave his angle on the failed Jennings trade, and according to him, perhaps it wasn’t Jennings himself who torpedoed it.

“I know there was definitely talk between the two sides,” Rapoport said. “I know that there was a time when, at least for me, I thought a deal was gonna get done. I thought it was gonna happen. I had a nice tweet ready and then it fell apart. I haven’t definitively heard that it was Jennings scuttling it. That would seem a little odd to me, but I guess it’s possible.”

The notion that it seems odd that Jennings scuttled the trade would seem to make sense. He doesn’t have a no-trade clause, which means that the Vikings shouldn’t have felt any pressure to call off the trade if Jennings didn’t want to return to the Niners.

He was originally drafted by the Niners in the seventh round of the 2020 draft. During his first couple of years in the NFL, he was mostly used as a blocking receiver, but by 2023, he had emerged as a pass-catching option, especially in third-down situations.

The following year, as injuries ravaged the team, he caught 77 passes for 975 yards and six touchdowns, which proved he could be a featured, every-down receiver. Last year, he had 643 yards and nine touchdowns on 55 catches.

The Vikings, like the Niners, are 6-1, and while their offense is struggling, Jennings hasn’t been utilized much, as he only has 54 yards and no touchdowns on six catches this year. One would think he would prefer to play for another contender where he would be targeted more often.