As 49ers training camp begins, two critical players’ contracts are in the spotlight

49ers veterans reported to Santa Clara on Tuesday, and the team is set to begin training camp with two delicate contractual situations on its hands.

The first involves receiver Jauan Jennings, who has reported to camp despite making it clear last week that he wants a new deal — or at least a sweetener in the contract that’s set to pay him about $7.5 million this season.

The second involves right tackle Colton McKivitz, who is in a comparable contractual situation. Both he and Jennings are entering the lame-duck period of two-year deals signed in 2024. Both performed significantly better than their pay rates immediately after signing those agreements. Jennings nearly logged 1,000 receiving yards, while McKivitz ranked in the upper half of right tackles in both pass and run blocking metrics playing on the 24th-ranked contract at the position.

McKivitz can make up to $4.5 million this season, $2.1 million of which is guaranteed.

“Those are two guys in very similar situations,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said Tuesday at a camp-opening press conference alongside general manager John Lynch. “The way they feel about us is the same way we feel about them. That’s the easy part. The hard part is the business side.

“That’s two guys [where a contract adjustment] does make sense. We’ll do everything we can to make that work out, but it’s not always easy.”

The 49ers will practice Wednesday for the first time this camp. Both Jennings and McKivitz are expected to be on the field — Shanahan said Jennings has not formally requested a trade — but their level of participation remains to be seen. Last year, receiver Brandon Aiyuk reported to camp but then conducted a “hold-in” — which involved watching several practices from the sideline — that lasted until he signed a new deal in late August.

“I won’t speak for Jauan, but we had a good visit with him,” Lynch said. “We anticipate him being out there [at practice]. He embodies what we think a Niner’s all about. He plays the right way. We love him.”

Lynch stopped short of confirming that Jennings will actually practice without an adjustment to his contract, but the 49ers are obviously hopeful they can avoid the type of absences from stars such as Aiyuk, Nick Bosa, and Trent Williams that have clouded camps in recent years.

The team took a proactive approach this offseason, finalizing massive negotiations with Brock Purdy, George Kittle, and Fred Warner far before training camp. But while there’s been a clear emphasis on paying A-list players, the 49ers’ financial strategy surrounding less prominent — but important — performers like Jennings and McKivitz is murkier.

It’s apparent now that the 49ers secured Jennings and McKivitz at huge discounts last offseason and that both players could cash in big-time — likely outside the 49ers’ spending reach — once they hit free agency. Both sides have some degree of leverage in the matter; the 49ers have contractual control over Jennings and McKivitz, but both players fill critical roles for the team.

If Jennings does practice Tuesday, for example, he’ll be by far the most prominent 49ers receiver on the field. That’s because Aiyuk, recovering from a torn ACL and MCL, will almost certainly miss all of training camp. Second-year receiver Ricky Pearsall will also be absent from the opening three-practice block of training camp as the 49ers slow-play his return from a hamstring strain.

The 49ers signed veteran Equanimeous St. Brown, 28, on Tuesday to fortify the receiver room for at least this first stretch of practices. He takes the 90-man roster spot of safety and special teams ace George Odum, whom the 49ers released over the weekend. Odum suffered an offseason injury that required surgery and won’t be available to play until later in the fall.

In the big picture, the update on Pearsall is a good one for the 49ers. There had been outside concern when the team placed him on the physically unable to perform, or PUP, list last week, but Pearsall isn’t far from rejoining practice — where he’s expected to be one of Purdy’s featured targets.

Pearsall was one of Purdy’s training partners this offseason. He and fellow second-year receiver Jacob Cowing traveled to Jacksonville to train with Purdy and 49ers backup QB Mac Jones in the spring. Purdy later moved into his new house in the Nashville area, where Kittle also lives. That enabled throwing sessions featuring Purdy, Kittle, and 49ers tight end Mason Pline.

“Brock has had a hell of a short career so far,” Shanahan said. “He had a hell of an offseason. He hasn’t been fake in the way he works, who he is as a man, what he’s put on film, what we see every day. He will keep getting better.”

Other players placed on either the PUP or non-football injury lists also have relatively quick return prognoses. Lynch said offensive lineman Ben Bartch, a contender for the starting spot at left guard who hurt his quad while away from the team facility, should be back during camp. The same goes for defensive lineman Yetur Gross-Matos and swing tackle Andre Dillard, both of whom are on the PUP list.

The four 49ers who are recovering from ACL tears — Aiyuk, safety Malik Mustapha, quarterback Kurtis Rourke, and linebacker Curtis Robinson — face longer return-to-practice timetables.

Mustapha did post a photo of himself Tuesday taking the field for a workout, but the 49ers will stick to a disciplined schedule with the safety’s recovery — especially because this is the second time he has injured that ACL.

“His recovery is as good as it could be,” Shanahan said. “It’s amazing, but it’s still an ACL. So we’ve still got to give it time.”

The earliest the 49ers can realistically expect all four players to return is September.

“They’re all in the same boat of time to come back, which isn’t going to be training camp,” Shanahan said. “Sometime in the season — hopefully in the first half.”

Until then, the 49ers will make do with the players who are available — and following a long offseason, they are enjoying a relatively strong bill of health. The group that will take the practice field Wednesday will include a big crop of rookies, who are already hard at work.