Fortune appeared to smile on the Minnesota Vikings' offseason search for an experienced WR3 when Jauan Jennings remained available nearly two months into free agency. He left town without a contract after a two-day visit, but they signed him to a one-year deal in early May, and it looked like a nice fit.
Four games in (Jennings missed Week 2 due to personal reasons), it's not going well at all.
Jennings has just two catches for nine yards on five total targets. If last week's signing of Odell Beckham Jr. to the practice squad wasn't enough, Monday's workout that included veteran wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster has cast Jennings' future in Minnesota into serious doubt.
During his appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" on Tuesday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network named Jennings among players who could be on the move before the November 10 trade deadline. It also doesn't feel like the Vikings will wait very long to move him if they can get something done.
On Tuesday's edition of SKOR North's "Purple Daily", Darren Wolfson of KSTP Sports detailed an exchange a photojournalist captured during last Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints.
"Jauan Jennings getting into KOC’s vicinity, not like pointing at him, but there was some heated, I don’t want to say dialogue, because KOC really didn’t have anything to say, but it was Jauan Jennings loudly going at KOC in that moment.”
Struggling to produce, perhaps rooted in a lack of rapport with Kyler Murray over the last few games, is one thing. But noticeably getting in head coach Kevin O'Connell's ear in the middle of a game could be a "last straw" sort of thing when it comes to Jennings, as it surely won't sit well with anyone.
General manager Nolan Teasley is apparently ready to turn over every rock he can to find a different veteran to fill the WR3 role. O'Connell is possibly ready to throw his hands up after having Jennings rant at him on the sideline. A parting of ways seems to be coming.
With that, here are three teams the Vikings could offload Jennings to.
3 possible trade destinations for Vikings WR Jauan Jennings
3. Indianapolis Colts
The Colts are down bad enough at wide receiver right now, with Alec Pierce out indefinitely and some others having missed time, that former Vikings first-round bust Laquon Treadwell has played at least a 73 percent snap share in four straight games. The shell of Keenan Allen has nine targets in each of his last two games.
At 2-3, and with a winnable game against the Tennessee Titans coming in Week 6, the Colts could fancy themselves as a contender right now. But if we put that mark in the win column for Week 6, 3-3 could become 3-6 by the trade deadline, with the Vikings,Jacksonville Jaguars, and Dallas Cowboys on the schedule from Week 7 to Week 9.
If the Colts are going to be a suitor for Jennings, the time for them to strike on a trade could be now, before any idea of them buying at the deadline potentially fades. That would also align with how quickly the Vikings might want to offload their vastly underperforming, and now apparently fairly disgruntled, wide receiver.
2. Las Vegas Raiders
To put it plainly, the Raiders aren't getting much from their wide receivers so far this season. Former Viking Jalen Nailor hasn't produced, and he missed Week 5 due to a concussion he suffered the previous week.
Jennings has a tie to the coaching staff in Las Vegas. Head coach Klint Kubiak was the San Francisco 49ers' passing game coordinator in 2023, which was the year before Jennings fully broke through.
While Jennings didn't have a big role in a 49ers' wide receiver corps that still had Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel, 15 of his 19 receptions in 2023 moved the chains, and he earned nice PFF grades for his blocking.
The Raiders reportedly had some interest in trading for Marvin Harrison Jr. before the Arizona Cardinals agreed to send him to the Houston Texans. Assuming they're still exploring the wide receiver market - and they should be - Jennings looks like a solid fit.
1. San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers were hit with yet another notable wide receiver injury in Week 5, with Deebo Samuel expected to miss a couple of weeks. Jennings' rumored asking price in free agency apparently pushed him away from staying with the team that drafted him during the offseason, but that is not a worry for either side now.
Jennings became a prominent part of the 49ers' offense over the two seasons before this one, highlighted by 15 combined touchdowns. Of course, that system has not fundamentally changed this year, so the fit is seamless.
Jennings, if he could pick his trade destination, would surely welcome going to a team he can hit the ground running with over the remainder of a contract year.
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