Minnesota Vikings WR Greg Jennings has clear place

The Minnesota Vikings offense looks like one of the more intriguing units around the league due to the quantity of solid players they have on that side of the ball, as they feature several young talents in Teddy Bridgewater, Jerick McKinnon, and Cordarrelle Patterson (just to name three). It’s unclear if Patterson will amount to more than just a gadget player, but even though the Vikings could use a true No. 1 receiver in their passing attack, they already have a number of solid options such as Greg Jennings.

It’s no coincidence that Jennings’s numbers as a Viking were at their best when Bridgewater started to hit his stride near the end of the season, and Jennings was his clear safety valve and “Z” receiver, leading the team with 59 receptions for 742 yards. He caught 64.4% of everything thrown at him, per Advanced Football Analytics, and he finally had a quarterback with enough anticipation and football IQ to actually throw it to him when he was open.

Jennings still has some speed at this stage of his career, but he brings little playmaking ability to the table. That’s fine, though, because Charlie Johnson, Jarius Wright, and Patterson provide the playmaking chops in the passing game, and both Wright and Patterson are YAC monsters.

Because Bridgewater is so good at reading through his progressions, it makes sense to have a high volume of solid pass-catchers on the squad, which is why I hope the Vikings find a way to keep both Wright and Jennings around. While drafting someone like Kevin White would put the Vikings over the top, Bridgewater’s game is based on intermediate throws, accuracy, and decision-making; running more of a horizontal offense suits him best.

Adding DeVante Parker would be a dream get for the Vikings, and they should strongly consider drafting a WR in the first round. That said, they can’t overlook the fact that they need guys who can move the chains, and they should try to reach a fair restructure with their most reliable receiver.

According to ESPN NFL Nation’s Ben Goessling, the Vikings “probably” have the leverage over Jennings to restructure his contract. If Jennings doesn’t want to restructure his deal, then he’s gone. I’m sorry, but he’s clearly not worth $8.9 million in base salary over the next three seasons, and he wouldn’t even make half of that on the open market. Jennings is 31, and he’s just about as much of a possession receiver as it gets, though he can break a play on occasion.

Per Goessling, the Vikings would save $9 million if they make him a post-June cut, and Jennings could easily be released if the team decides to draft someone like Kevin White or Parker in the first round, which would make Jennings expendable. I can’t see the team letting Wright walk after the promising season he put together, and the Vikings would really make things crowded on Jennings by drafting a younger, cheaper, and more talented receiver on the outside.

That said, Greg Jennings still provides some value to the Vikings, and it goes just beyond veteran smarts. Again, he had the third-highest catch rate on the team, the third-most yards per target, and 24 more targets more than the second-most thrown at receiver. He was also the team’s clear leader with six touchdown receptions and proved to be a top safety valve for Bridgewater who consistently made catches when called upon.

Jennings isn’t great, but he knows how to get open, can still consistently get separation, and his route-running savvy overcomes his average drop rate. Since Bridgewater works best when having a variety of weapons at his disposal, it makes sense to try and keep Jennings around at an affordable rate.

Dec 28, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Greg Jennings (15) catches a pass in the fourth quarter against the Chicago Bears at TCF Bank Stadium. The Minnesota Vikings win 13-9. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Per Pro Football Focus, Bridgewater had a 101.6 QB Rating when targeting Jennings, and that was the highest on the team (though Wright was close), which goes to show you how steady he was.

Interestingly enough, Jennings actually had the highest catch rate on throws of at least 20 yards downfield and the most targets on those throws, so he might have been their best deep threat despite being third on the team in yards per reception.

The Minnesota Vikings have some big decisions to make when it comes to building an offense around Bridgewater, but I think Jennings’s consistent play showed that he deserves to be part of the picture if he comes at a reasonable price.

Jennings has come off as a team-first guy who would be amicable to a paycut, but, as we saw with his split from the Green Bay Packers, you never know what the future holds. The Vikings have other nice pass-catchers like TE Kyle Rudolph, Wright, Johnson, and Patterson, but Jennings is their most proven and reliable option on the outside.

Of course, the years left in his contract are another issue to resolve, since his contract runs out in 2018. Based on his playing style, he should be effective to that point in his career, but he’s nearing the clear decline phase that even possession-based WRs undergo, though he did show that he can bring some vertical value to the table.

A restructure this offseason isn’t a guarantee, but the Vikings can’t afford to take the cap hit and would save significantly more money by cutting him as a post-June 1 cut than they would lose in dead cap charges.

That said, are the savings enough to justify releasing their best wideout? I don’t think so, especially not at such a critical stage in Bridgewater’s development. Even if they draft Parker or White, Jennings still has a place on the Vikings, but it should be at an affordable rate.

It’s a difficult situation, but the Vikings can ill-afford to let one of the league’s premier route-runners go, especially since he could have a big year with much-improved play around him. Drafting a top WR would complicate things, but it wouldn’t diminish Jennings’s value that stems from his dependability, which no other pass-catcher on the team can come close to matching. Releasing him is a better option in the future than it is before Bridgewater’s second season, and that’s why the leverage here is so complicated. Teams generally hold all the leverage, but Jennings can steal some of it in this case.

Next: Where do the Vikings rank among the best franchises in history?

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