Jauan Jennings faces crucial hurdle to sign with new team

While the San Francisco 49ers try to deal with their own overpriced wide receiver in Brandon Aiyuk, they may not have many intentions of doing so with Jauan Jennings.

Jennings is the biggest name available in free agency right now, at least in terms of projected market value, and there have been little to no rumors about his potential destinations.

According to NFL insider Chris Simms, that’s all on him. Wondering why his market has been so quiet, Simms argued that Jennnigs may have overplayed his hand, and he’s now priced himself out of several teams’ range:

“What is going on with Jauan? What did Jauan Jennings price himself at?” Simms asked (h/t Coach Yac). “The 49ers, I will say it, I know my friend [Kyle Shanahan] liked Jauan. They thought he was a damn good player, but he’s overpriced himself here and he fit the system in what they did, but they obviously felt they couldn’t get something done with him to where they pivoted to Mike Evans.”

The Niners got a borderline Hall of Famer in Mike Evans at just three years and $42.5 million. Even if he’s in the back end of his prime, he’s always been ahead of Jennings, who’s coming off an injury-riddled season.

Jennings missed a couple of games last year, and he had just 55 receptions on 90 targets for 643 yards and nine touchdowns. While those aren’t bad numbers, his projected market value of $22.6 millino might be a little too high, especially considering that players with similar production, like Romeo Doubs and Wan’Dale Robinson, signed for much less.

The first wave of free agency is already in the record books, and it doesn’t sound like there are many suitors for Jennings’ services right now. That’s less likely to change after a WR-heavy NFL Draft, so it might be a while before he finds a new home, and he’ll likely have to lower his financial aspirations.