The San Francisco 49ers defensive line and linebacker tandem received a lot of credit for how elite their defense was last season. However, people tended to forget that their secondary, including the cornerback position, struggled. For example, the 49ers had to change their starting nickel cornerback a few times because they struggled.
Isaiah Oliver served as the starting nickel cornerback for most of the first half of the season. Oliver struggled, and the 49ers benched him in Week 10 after his disappointing performance against the Bengals in Week 8. They proceeded to insert Ambry Thomas into the starting rotation and moved Deommodore Lenoir to the slot on passing downs.
Thomas did a decent job as the CB3 during the regular season but struggled during the playoffs. The 49ers benched him during the NFC Championship game in favor of Logan Ryan, who started in the slot in the Super Bowl, and Lenoir moved back to the outside.
Despite their struggles, their secondary didn’t allow that many yards or touchdowns. They allowed the 14th-fewest passing yards and the 9th-fewest passing touchdowns. Their Pro Bowl corner deserves credit for his incredible 2023 campaign.
The San Francisco 49ers’ elite CB1 had an incredible 2023 campaign
Charvarius Ward helped carry the 49ers’ secondary with his masterful performance, earning his first Pro Bowl and Second Team All-Pro honors. He registered 72 tackles, five interceptions, one pick-six, 23 pass deflections, and an 82.6 PFF grade. He allowed 59 receptions on 109 targets for 714 yards, three touchdowns, and a 64.5 passer rating.
Ward enters the final year of his 3-year, $40.5 million contract he signed during the 2022 offseason. He has a $12.56 million base salary and a $18.401 million cap hit. He is the 10th-highest-paid CB in terms of APY and the 3rd-highest cap hit in 2024 among CBs per Over The Cap.
He wants a contract extension.
Charvarius Ward wants a contract extension
According to Pro Football Rumors, Ward and the 49ers appear to have a mutual interest in a contract extension. He would like to stick around in San Francisco.
“I’d like to stick around,” Ward said. “I feel like it’s a good team. They love me here. I love it here. I love all the coaches, love my teammates, but I just let my agent handle it. That’s the business side of things. I’m just gonna do my job, go out there and ball, put the pressure on them and hopefully they give me a bag.
“If they don’t, I know it won’t be like any bad blood between me and them. It’s just like it’ll be a business decision, but I’m pretty sure they would like to have me. I’d like to stay here for sure.”
Their head coach also would like to extend him.
Kyle Shanahan would like to extend Charvarius Ward
“I would say there isn’t any [players] who are going to be free agents that we don’t want around here,” Coach Kyle Shanahan said. “We’ve got some good players. We’ve built a good roster. And you can’t keep everybody around. But the guys that you’re asking about, they’re as much on our mind as anyone.”
Will the San Francisco 49ers be able to extend Charvarius Ward?
The 49ers might not be able to extend Ward for four reasons.
The first reason is that his asking price will likely be more than what they can afford to give him. He currently makes $13.5 million and might demand anywhere from $15 to $20+ million.
The second reason is that they don’t have the cap space to pay everyone. The ugly truth is that every team cannot afford to sign every player on their roster, including the 49ers, who will be $38.9 million over the cap in 2025.
The third reason is that the 49ers will likely prioritize an extension for Brandon Aiyuk (this offseason) and Brock Purdy (next offseason) instead of extending Ward. Aiyuk is eligible for an extension and will likely command more than $25 million. Purdy is eligible for an extension during the 2025 offseason and could make at least $50 million.
Finally, the fourth reason is his age and his health. Despite playing every game last season, the 28-year-old’s body broke down near the end of the season and underwent core muscle surgery. There is a chance he might not be the same player.
2 Comments
jackson
you can’t keep everyone you want to keep, that’s the way life is for the 49ers, and the rest of the world.
i do not pay attention to the ‘negotiations,’ what they are offered, what they make, could care less.
i never think about what players are paid except the A’s paid Gene Tenace 33K for a World Series season.
i just watch what happens during the game. are they playing hard, do they look like they want it,
is kyle running the ball, passing at the best time, are they creative, fun to watch.
there has to be tons of luck, the players drafted, stolen, and most important = LUCK.
best eg. = Purdy. how many QB’s do you think the niners looked at past couple of years. all the work,
research, watching films, drafted and the great majority of the time, they failed. Purdy, as we all know is pretty darn good, a keeper, top QB if healthy next 10 yrs = pure LUCK, mr. last draft choice. congrats John.
so keeping good players by paying ’em lots of bucks works, stealing good players works, staying healthy
is critical, and, LUCK.
the niners look pretty darn good for ’24, lots of competition, Purdy grows, great receivers, runners, D
and maybe kyle will loosen up in last qtr of close games and win ’em instead of (choking) oops, losing.
bob
I appreciate the feedback. You made some very valid points about the salary cap and teams not being able to afford every player on the roster. I forgot to mention the cap implications, but I tweaked it to explain why an extension seems unlikely.
Thank you reading my article and providing helpful feedback.