Vikings sign former 49ers receiver Jauan Jennings to one-year deal

Jennings joins a receiver room headlined by Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison

The Minnesota Vikings are bolstering their wide receiver room with one of the top veterans remaining on the free agent market. The club has agreed to a one-year deal with former San Francisco 49ers wideout Jauan Jennings, according. The deal is worth $8 million, but Jennings has a chance to make up to $13 million with incentives. 

Jennings, who turns 29 in August, joins a receiver depth chart that already boasts one of the best one-two punches in the league in Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. That said, Minnesota was in need of adding some depth to the unit, especially after losing pass catcher Jalen Nailor, who was third on the team with 444 yards receiving in 2025, in free agency. Nailor signed a three-year, $35 million contract with the Las Vegas Raiders during the initial waves of free agency, which also included $23 million guaranteed. 

Jennings will now come aboard and adopt some, if not all, of the 53 targets left by Nailor as he now joins the Vikings. 

The 2020 seventh-rounder out of Tennessee is entering his sixth season in the NFL next season. Those previous five campaigns were all spent in the Bay Area with the 49ers. While Jennings had been a solid contributor throughout his tenure in San Francisco, he was a bit of a late bloomer. During his fourth season in the league in 2024, Jennings broke out with a 975-yard campaign to go along with six touchdowns on 77 receptions. At the time, all of those were career highs. 

After establishing himself as a starter with the Niners, Jennings followed that breakout season with a solid -- albeit more muted -- 2025 season. While his receptions and receiving yards were lower than the year prior, Jennings' nine receiving touchdowns were a new career-best. 

Of course, Jennings' addition puts the quarterback room even more in focus for 2026. While head coach Kevin O'Connell hasn't named a starter quarterback yet, it's widely assumed that Kyler Murray, who signed a one-year deal in mid-March after his release from the Arizona Cardinals, will win the job over J.J. McCarthy and Carson Wentz. 

If that proves to be the case, the Vikings will now have two NFC West castoffs serving in pivotal roles on offense.