Wide receiver may not be near the top of the New Orleans Saints’ to-do list for many fans, but it should be. The team only has three receivers under contract for the 2024 season after they brought 13 wideouts into training camp last summer — and the expected re-signing of Rashid Shaheed with the release of Michael Thomas won’t change that number. They’re going to add some receivers in free agency.
And Jauan Jennings has put together an impressive resume. The Saints are hiring one of his coaches as their new offensive coordinator — San Francisco 49ers passing game specialist Klint Kubiak, in case you missed it — and Jennings should be an option in free agency. He’s one of 10 49ers free agents we highlighted as potential Saints targets. And his performance in Super Bowl LVIII was the most compelling argument yet for getting him in a black and gold jersey.
It would have been very tough for the 49ers to not name Jennings the Super Bowl MVP had they won the game. He was exemplary as a blocker, again, which has been his bread and butter through three years in San Francisco. But on top of that, Jennings was effective as a receiver when his number was called. He was targeted four times and he caught all four passes for 42 yards and a critical touchdown to force overtime. He was also a key figure in one of the game’s most exciting plays: lobbing a trick pass to Christian McCaffrey for the first touchdown of the day.
Jennings does so many things well that the Saints have valued highly. But we’ll start with his blocking. Guys like Tre’Quan Smith stuck around in New Orleans for years because of their ability to fight and sustain blocks to create opportunities for their teammates. Last year, the Saints asked veterans like Keith Kirkwood and Lynn Bowden Jr. to handle that duty, and while they had some success it made the offense too predictable. Neither of them could do enough as receivers to disguise the offense’s intent when they hit the field.
That isn’t as much a concern with Jennings. His numbers are modest — he’s averaged about 394 receiving yards per year with the 49ers — but that’s more than Kirkwood, Bowden, and A.T. Perry combined for last season in New Orleans. If he can step into the lineup as the team’s third or fourth receiver (depending on how many steps forward Perry can take in his second season), the offense would improve. Having someone with his experience who knows the system that Kubiak will be installing inside and is valuable in itself.
So it’s that simple, right? Jennings is a great scheme fit and upgrade over the players the Saints already have, so they should sign him, right? Not so fast. Jennings is going into the 2024 offseason with restricted free agent status. That means the 49ers will have some options in re-signing him. Restricted free agents may be issued a tender by their current team that brings the team a right of first refusal to any other contract offers. If they pay more, the 49ers could demand compensation by letting Jennings go, which would remove him as an option for teams like the Saints.
These tender amounts increase with the salary cap. While we don’t know how much the cap is going to rise in 2024, Over The Cap has projected values for the three levels of restricted free agent tenders:
- Right of first refusal: $2,828,000
- Second-round draft pick compensation: $4,633,000
- First-round draft pick compensation: $6,464,000
Both the Saints and the 49ers have some work to do in getting under the salary cap, though New Orleans is obviously deeper in the red (by about $80 million) than San Francisco (just $3 million), per Over The Cap’s estimates. But the 49ers have more work to do in keeping their team together: key starters like cornerbacks Deommodore Lenoir and Charvarius Ward are entering contract years, as are linebacker Dre Greenlaw, wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, safety Talanoa Hufanga, and defensive tackle Arik Armstead. Committing too much money to their third receiver could cost them later; the 49ers have to be planning on signing some of those players to early extensions.
So it’s reasonable to think Jennings will reach free agency and have the opportunity to hear offers from other teams. And the Saints should be one of his first callers. His presence would add a lot to the receiving corps and make the offense less predictable. It makes too much sense for them to pursue him. But we’ll have to wait and see whether the 49ers make a strong effort to keep him in San Francisco.
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