It’s not a secret that former San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings has a high opinion of where he stands among the elite players at his position in the NFL. Now he’s given a direct cross-sport comparison to an NBA legend that moved to the Bay Area instead of away from it.
Jennings, who landed a one-year contract worth $8 million with the Minnesota Vikings this offseason, wound up missing out on his desired payday in free agency. He missed part of training camp last year while negotiating a new contract that ultimately landed him some additional incentives. This offseason, his first foray into free agency, ended with Jennings not signing until after the NFL draft and landing a contract lower than the one he had in San Francisco last season.
The lack of a major raise didn’t do anything to quell Jennings’ confidence.
In an interview with Vikings media members during OTAs, Jennings compared himself to a future NBA Hall of Famer joining an already stacked Vikings receiving corps with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison.
#Vikings WR Jauan Jennings says he feels like Kevin Durant on the warriors with the current receiving core:
“Big three man. A lot of talent over here.”
(Via Vikings mobile app) pic.twitter.com/hOA20STXQK
— VikingzFanPage (@vikingzfanpage) May 28, 2026
“It’s awesome. I feel like Kevin Durant and the Warriors,” Jennings said in reference to Durant joining the Warriors in free agency after Golden State won 73 games the previous season.
“It’s a big three, man,” Jennings explained. “There’s just a lot of talent over here. It’s just top down, head to bottom a lot of talent.”
There’s no denying the Vikings receiving corps is very talented. It’s just hard to fit Jennings into the Durant box given that Durant was arguably the best player in the world when he joined the Warriors, and then solidified himself as that while winning a pair of Finals MVPs in 2017 and 2018.
It’s tough to envision Jennings, who is a good player, living up to the kind of expectation that comes with the invocation of Kevin Durant on the Warriors. If Jennings does pull that off and meet those lofty standards, next offseason he’ll surely get the payday he was seeking the last two.
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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Vikings WR Jauan Jennings compares himself to Kevin Durant
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