Team news: Minnesota Vikings | Page 7

Kyle Shanahan said he expects Jauan Jennings to play on Sunday. He's limited in today's practice with a calf injury.

Related Players: Ricky Pearsall, George Kittle, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Skyy Moore

Good news for Jennings managers, but we would have liked to hear this clearance more than a few days away from kickoff. Pearsall could easily begin the season as the target leader for the 49ers, with Kittle being in the running for overall TE1 to begin the year.

Monday brought a positive development for the 49ers’ receiving corps.

Reporters at the open portion of practice shared photos and videos of Jauan Jennings taking part in the session. The wideout has been sidelined by a calf injury for an extended period of time, but the word in the last week or so has been that the team expects him to play against the Seahawks this week.

Monday’s workout is a good sign that things are moving in that direction, although the team won’t issue their first official injury report of the season until after Wednesday’s practice is in the books, the story said. Jennings, of course, also wants a new contract and there is no word if things have changed on that front.

Homecoming: Panthers and Vikings are finalizing a trade for WR Adam Thielen to return to Minnesota, sources tell ESPN.

The trade: Vikings get Thielen, a conditional 2026 seventh-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick.

Panthers get a 2026 fifth-round pick and a 2027 fourth-round pick.

Thielen starred for the Vikings from 2013-2022. Now he returns.

Related Players: Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Tetairoa McMillan, Xavier Legette, Jalen Coker

This is a good move to ease J.J. McCarthy into the league with Jordan Addison suspended for the first three games. Thielen is heading into his age-35 (!!) season and doesn't offer nearly the run-after-catch ability as he did in his heyday, but he can operate as a consistent option for the young QB. He's unlikely to hit double-digit targets as he did a couple times last year with JJ and T.J. Hockenson around, but he could be playable for desperate deep-league managers.

Back in Carolina, this helps clear the runway for Jalen Coker to operate as the Panthers' primary slot option after a pretty impressive rookie season for a UDFA. He's an interesting stash.

49ers placed WR Brandon Aiyuk and S​ Malik Mustapha on the Physically Unable to Perform List.

Related players: Jauan Jennings, Ricky Pearsall, Demarcus Robinson, Jacob Cowing, Skyy Moore, George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey

This news comes as no surprise. Aiyuk's timeline to return is around Week 6 as we previously reported. Jennings is dealing with a calf injury/contract issue, which means the Niners are without their top-two WRs, at the moment. Pearsall, Kittle and McCaffrey should carry the load in the passing game at least to start the season.

Vikings and Panthers have tried to work out a trade for Carolina WR Adam Thielen.

Related players: Tetairoa McMillan, Xavier Legette, Jalen Coker, Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Jalen Nailor

Schefter's post said Thielen would like to return to Minnesota, but the two sides continue to struggle to agree on compensation. The Vikings could use help at WR with Addison suspended. Thielen would likely be the team's WR3 when at full strength in a couple of weeks, probably pushing Nailor down the depth chart. In Carolina, Thielen could be considered the team's WR2, but if he departs Legette likely takes that role behind McMillan with Coker moving up to the team's WR3 role. Whatever the hurdles seem to be, one would think this deal gets done at some point.

Last season, the Kyler Murray and Marvin Harrison Jr. linked up 62 times on 114 targets for 885 yards and eight touchdowns. Boosting those numbers could determine Arizona's offensive fate this season.

Thus far, Harrison said he can see the improved connection he and Murray have had this training camp.

"So, I definitely like where we're at," Harrison said. "We just got to go out there and put it on the field."

Those numbers were far behind many QB-WR combos the story pointed out. But the author noted through camp, the preseason and a joint practice with the Denver Broncos, the Murray-Harrison connection appears to have improved. The story went on to say In the first preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs, their only preseason action together, Murray hit Harrison on a 15-yard pass with Harrison coming out of the slot. Murray threw the pass on a straight arrow in front of him and Harrison ran to the pass, which was thrown between three Chiefs defenders. The story also pointed out that Harrison said the duo put in a lot of work this offseason.

Jauan Jennings' lingering calf injury and long contractual stalemate with the 49ers could combine to send him to the injured reserve list this week, multiple NFL sources indicated over the past few days.

That wouldn't quite be the nuclear option for the 49ers, who, to this point, have not signaled that they're ready to trade or cut Jennings in the same way they offloaded Deebo Samuel and several others last spring.

The story indicated talk of IR could also be a threat for Jennings to get back to practice. The story added there is growing frustration on both sides as Jennings continues to miss practice and management continues to show little interest in restructuring his contract and giving him a big pay raise for the second time in a little over a year. A move to IR for Jennings means he misses four games and would hurt Jennings financially by severely reducing his chances at triggering incentives and game bonuses and also would leave the 49ers dangerously thin at wide receiver at the start of the season, the story went on to say. Needless to say, this seems like a tense situation with a very unclear ending right now.

The Vikings signed quarterback Carson Wentz and traded quarterback Sam Howell to the Eagles.

The Vikings had worked out Wentz recently and have now added him to the roster. To make room, Howell was traded to an Eagles team that in search for a short-term backup to Jalen Hurts, as Tanner McKee is dealing with an injured finger and his status for the start of the season is unclear.

The move is also a sign of the confidence the Vikings have early on in rookie Max Brosmer as the potential backup to J.J. McCarthy. At the very least, he’ll stick around as the No. 3 after a solid preseason.

This is the third time in about a year and a half that Howell has been traded. He went from Washington to Seattle in March 2024 (after starting 17 games in 2023), then from Seattle to Minnesota back in April and now from Minnesota to Philadelphia.

Vikings have inquired about trading for Panthers WR Adam Thielen, per league sources.

With WR Jordan Addison serving a three-game suspension and Jalen Nailor dealing with a hand injury, Thielen could wind up starting opening night for the Vikings if they can complete the trade.

We're projecting a pretty run-heavy approach for Minnesota this season, so it's hard to imagine Thielen providing a lot of long-term fantasy production. This does help McCarthy's floor as a low-end QB2.

Trade! The Chiefs send Skyy Moore to the 49ers. The teams will swap sixth- and seventh-round picks in 2027.

Related Players: Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown, Rashee Rice, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Jalen Royals, Ricky Pearsall, Jauan Jennings, Jordan Watkins, Demarcus Robinson, Brandon Aiyuk

Both of these teams are dealing with wide receiver issues/injuries, so maybe this points toward good news for Worthy and Brown, who have been dinged up this summer, and/or Rice receiving a shorter suspension than initially thought.

Moore will benefit a 49ers room that is dealing with bad injury luck themselves, including Jennings' calf, Watkins' ankle, and Robinson's three-game suspension. Moore can be left on waiver wires in all but the deepest Dynasty leagues.