Rookies and selected veterans are already getting a crash course on the 49ers’ way of doing things in training camp, with the whole team reporting in a week.
The camp drama that began the 49ers on their downward spiral in 2024 was pretty much non-existent until Jauan Jennings came along with a trade demand unless he can have his contract adjusted upward just one year after signing a two-year, $15.39 million extension.
Let’s dispense with the notion that this comes as a surprise to the 49ers and that their period of serenity was somehow blindsided with an ultimatum just as camp is about to begin.
Deebo Samuel got paid. Nick Bosa got paid. So did Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey, Trent Williams and Brandon Aiyuk. Most recently, George Kittle and Fred Warner were extended without pushing negotiations into training camp.
So it’s a pretty safe bet the Jennings camp, led by agent Drew Rosenhaus, has had talks with the 49ers and only recently floated the trade scenario to ESPN’s Adam Schefter to turn up the heat.
Exactly what Jennings is seeking in terms of a raise is unclear. What is crystal clear is Jennings outperformed his contract last season with 77 receptions, 975 yards and six touchdowns as Purdy’s top outside threat to go along with Kittle inside.
It’s easy to say Jennings should simply live up to the terms of his deal. But keep in mind what the 49ers would have done had Jennings not done such a good job during a season where Aiyuk was a hold-in, then ineffective, then seriously injured, Samuel appeared to hit a wall and Ricky Pearsall got off to a late start after being shot in the chest.
Like Javon Hargrave, Leonard Floyd, Maliek Collins and others, additional years on his contract would be ignored and Jennings would be released and on the street looking for a new deal. It’s not a two-way street in the NFL and it never has been.
Look at it from Jennings’ perspective. He’s heard for years from the mouths of coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch that he is everything a 49er should be. Tough, tenacious, competitive. As willing to block as he is to catch the ball. A chain-mover. Third-and-Jauan.
He’s watched teammates described in similar ways be compensated. If one thing is clear about the 49ers, it’s that they were determined to lock up their “dudes” to keep the postseason window ajar for another year or two and then surround them with younger talent.
Is Jennings a “dude?” He wasn’t a high draft pick, doesn’t separate from defensive backs easily and his 40-yard dash time isn’t going to set any records. But when Aiyuk joined the team on the field late and Samuel simply wasn’t the same player, Jennings stepped up.
The 49ers have ample cap space, and that isn’t an issue anyway. Tacking on a year or two and throwing another $10 million onto the pile would at least show some respect. If you’re Jennings and you’ve heard all the great things the club has said about you and then stonewalled when the rest of the core is being taken care of, it’s worth exercising the only leverage you’ve got.
Ultimately, requesting a trade worked out for both Samuel and Aiyuk in terms of their financial bottom line.
Withholding his services is all Jennings has got. NFL teams release players under contract all the time, yet a player can’t make a power play in the name of fairness?
Aiyuk will miss some time — maybe a quarter of the season or more — as he rehabs a torn ACL and MCL. Demarcus Robinson, signed as a free agent, is facing a likely suspension after pleading no contest to a DUI. Speculation is that it will be three games, but that almost sounds a little light considering he was also going 100 miles per hour at the time of his arrest.
That leaves second-year wide receivers Pearsall and Jacob Cowing and a lot of unproven talent.
There’s the pipe dream scenario where the 49ers call their old friend Adam Peters and somehow wrangle Terry McLaurin away from Washington in exchange for Jennings. But McLaurin is embroiled in his own contract dispute and wants Aiyuk-level money.
If Lynch could pull that off, he’d be executive of the year.
Or the 49ers could sign an available free agent, with Keenan Allen and Amari Cooper still looking for a place to land. Allen is hard-nosed and 33 but only one year removed from catching 108 passes with the Chargers. Cooper has already been with four teams who moved on from him. Whether he and Shanahan would be compatible is a fair question.
What the 49ers don’t want is another “hold-in.” Players do it so they can avoid fines unless the team chooses to fine them for not practicing. But after watching the Jimmy Garoppolo side field circus in 2022 and the Aiyuk sideshow last year, having a prominent player on site but not practicing may be more distracting than having them absent.
It’s time for the 49ers to make a fair offer and let Jennings sit at the big kids’ table along with Purdy, Bosa, McCaffrey, Kittle, Williams and Warner. Do they consider Jennings essential to their success or not? They’ve said many times Jennings is a key component.
Time to prove it.