A plethora of injuries have been plaguing the San Francisco 49ers since they started training camp.
One injury that's been stinging them is the calf injury Jauan Jennings is suffering from. He's been out for the vast majority of camp since participating in the first few sessions.
Initially, it was surprising to see him practice. Normally, a player who is searching for a contract extension from the 49ers never does.
It looked like the 49ers were going to finally have a new scenario on their hands. But it's possibly more of the same. The 49ers may say Jennings has an injury, but he could be milking it as a holdout.
That's not to say his injury isn't legitimate, but Jennings might be taking his time since he wants a contract extension. Unfortunately for him, he's wasting his time pursuing an extension.
It's not going to happen for him. If it were, the 49ers would've extended Jennings along with Brock Purdy, George Kittle, and Fred Warner. The fact that they didn't indicates their stance.
Jennings is playing his final year with the 49ers. They have accepted that, and it's because extending Jennings is a luxury. The 49ers already have a lot of investments at wide receiver.
Also, the 49ers have to stop adding fuel to the precedent of rewarding holdouts. Even with the wide receiver position ravaged by injuries, the 49ers aren't inclined to extend Jennings.
Recently, Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard reported that the 49ers and Jennings are far apart on a deal, which isn't surprising.
"I checked around, and my understanding is that the 49ers feel that the timing is all wrong," wrote Kawakami. "They don’t want to give Jennings a big new deal so soon after he signed the last one, a year after giving Brandon Aiyuk a huge contract that the 49ers’ money people almost instantly regretted, and months after signing Brock Purdy to a $265 million deal."
It makes perfect sense for the 49ers to refrain from extending Jennings. Does he deserve one? For sure. Are the 49ers in a position for it? Not at all.
Sure, the 49ers have ample salary cap space this year, but looking beyond 2025 is a very stiff one. They won't have as much space as they do now because of the extensions they've handed out.
The 49ers benefit more from rolling that cap space over and the money that would go into Jennings' extension elsewhere.
It's unfortunate for him, but this isn't his last chance to get paid. If anything, he would end up making more in free agency, especially if he plays incredibly again.
Jennings has to accept this reality. Otherwise, he's going to keep wasting his time and energy.
