49ers will not commerce WR Jauan Jennings, GM John Lynch says

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — While the San Francisco 49ers remain unsure whether wide receiver Jauan Jennings will play in Week 1, general manager John Lynch was certain of one thing on Wednesday: The team has no desire to trade Jennings.

Since Jennings departed practice on the fourth day of training camp with a calf injury, his status for this season and as a Niner has remained a question mark. Speaking to media on Wednesday, Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan provided at least some clarity on what’s been going on with Jennings and not just as it pertains to his injury.

According to Lynch, Jennings requested a trade “a while ago,” though the Niners did not grant that request and have no intention of doing so.

“He asked for it and we’ve moved on,” Lynch said. “We’re not doing that. So, we’re moving forward.”

Jennings is entering the final season of the two-year contract extension he signed in 2024. He is scheduled to count $4.258 million against this year’s salary cap with more than $8 million in dead money remaining from lingering void years.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported in mid-July that Jennings would like a lucrative contract extension or, barring that, a trade. Jennings reported to camp on time and participated in the first four practices of camp before leaving that fourth practice with a calf injury.

Lynch said Wednesday that “both things can be true,” meaning that Jennings does have a calf injury and wants a lucrative contract extension. Jennings hasn’t practiced since July 27, and with the regular-season opener rapidly approaching, Lynch and Shanahan would like to get Jennings back on the field soon if he’s going to have any chance to play in that game against the Seattle Seahawks on Sept. 7.

“Ideally everybody has a training camp, everyone is out there,” Lynch said. “That’s a perfect world but he’s been putting in work to the side and we’ll have to make that judgment when the time comes.”

To this point, the 49ers have remained content to let Jennings play out the final year of his deal, though tweaks to the year he has remaining are still possible. San Francisco signed wideout Brandon Aiyuk to a $30 million-a-year extension last August and invested a first-round pick in Ricky Pearsall in 2024.

This isn’t the first time the Niners have dealt with a trade request from a player by simply declining to grant it and letting it play out. They have done similar with kicker Robbie Gould, receiver Deebo Samuel and running back Raheem Mostert in recent years, though those all ended with a contract extension such as Samuel or added incentives for the current year like with Mostert.

Shanahan said Wednesday he doesn’t view Jennings’ desire for a new contract in a negative light for him or the team.

“I don’t think that has anything to do with team chemistry,” Shanahan said. “That doesn’t have anything to do with how we approach each other, how we spend our time with each other. That has to do with business decisions and the business decisions people make. I don’t look at any of that stuff.”

Still, the 49ers have plenty of urgency to get Jennings healthy and back on the field given the state of their receiver room. After trimming the roster to the initial 53 on Tuesday, the team had just two healthy receivers – Pearsall and Skyy Moore — among the five on the depth chart.

San Francisco has multiple receiver-related moves in the works, signing veteran Marquez Valdes-Scantling to a one-year deal on Wednesday while planning to bring veteran Russell Gage Jr. back to the active roster on Thursday after releasing him on Tuesday.

“Jauan is still working through his calf issue, making progress,” Lynch said. “We’re kind of like everyone else, hopeful but not sure on Week 1, and we’ll proceed as such.”

The Niners also placed wideout Jacob Cowing (hamstring) on injured reserve and re-signed punter Thomas Morstead on Wednesday after claiming defensive tackle Jordan Jefferson on waivers from the Jacksonville Jaguars and waiving defensive tackle Evan Anderson to make room.

Beyond that, Shanahan expressed optimism that the Niners will get some other key players back healthy in time for Seattle, a list that includes right guard Dominick Puni (knee), defensive tackle Yetur Gross-Matos (knee), left guard Ben Bartch (elbow) and slot cornerback Upton Stout (calf).