The Minnesota Vikings were apparently a lot closer to moving Jauan Jennings than most people realized.
With the trade deadline set for Nov. 10, the chatter around Minnesota has centered on what new general manager Nolan Teasley might do next. That makes sense for a 6-1 team that, oddly enough, has already signaled it’s willing to deal away talent. But Jennings, who was brought in this offseason to fill the third-wide receiver role, has become the latest awkward fit in the mix.
He was supposed to give the Vikings something that felt familiar - a nod to the old Three-Deep days of Randy Moss, Cris Carter, and Jake Reed. Instead, it has gone sideways.
Jennings has been frustrated, and the production hasn’t followed. Through six games, he has only six catches.
On Sunday, NFL insider Jay Glazer of FOX Sports reported that Minnesota was ready to send Jennings back to San Francisco, where he spent the first six seasons of his career, before the wideout shut it down at the last second.
Then came more detail from Ian Rapoport on Tuesday’s edition of The Pat McAfee Show. Rapoport said the trade was so far along that he had already drafted the tweet announcing it before everything collapsed.
“I know there was definitely talk between the two sides. I know that, there was a time when, at least for me, I thought a deal was going to get done.
I thought it was going to happen. Had a nice tweet ready, and then it fell apart.
I haven’t definitively heard that it was Jennings scuttling it. Like that would seem a little odd to me, but I guess it’s possible.”
Rapoport’s version leaves at least one part of Glazer’s report in question: who actually stopped the deal. Rapoport said he was surprised to hear it was Jennings himself.
The numbers help explain why Minnesota would have been willing to move on. Jennings is making $8 million this season, but he has only 54 receiving yards to go with those six catches.
His 60% offensive snap share hasn’t exactly made him indispensable, either. A return to San Francisco wouldn’t have looked like much of a step down, especially with the 49ers sitting at the same 6-1 record.
Darren Wolfson of KSTP added another layer on the latest Purple Daily episode, saying he also believed Jennings was on the way out - and now thinks he’ll stay put. He also tied the situation to Odell Beckham Jr.
“This goes back to signing Odell Beckham Jr. Odell can’t be real happy. He probably thought his representation probably thought, Jauan Jennings is going somewhere and that opens up an opportunity for me… Once I saw that video [ blowing up on Kevin O’Connell] I thought in that moment, you can’t have this thing ride all the way through… What’s new to me… is that Jauan Jennings somehow said I don’t want to go back to San Francisco.”
Beckham signed with the Vikings after being released by the New York Giants. He was elevated from the practice squad for the Saints game in October, but he’s back there now, and the situation leaves him wondering what his role is supposed to be. Jennings, meanwhile, had 55 catches for San Francisco last season and reached a career-high 77 two years ago - production he’s not getting anywhere close to in Minnesota.
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