This offseason, the San Francisco 49ers significantly increased the depth of their cornerback unit by adding multiple players to the roster in anticipation of the 2024 campaign.
In the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft, the 49ers selected Florida State cornerback Renardo Green, and they also signed free agents Isaac Yiadom, Rock Ya-Sin, and Chase Lucas.
They will be joining a group of incumbents that includes returning members Ambry Thomas, Darrell Luter, Samuel Womack, and top duo Charvarius Ward and Deommodore Lenoir.
What possible arrangement might the cornerback room have until 2024 and beyond?
One thing the gang all have in common? It will be crucial to contend for a title this season because most of the best players, including Ward and Lenoir, are set to become unrestricted free agents in 2025.
What possible arrangement might the cornerback room have until 2024 and beyond?
The group’s top cornerbacks, Ward and Lenoir, are back in the lead role following successful seasons as San Francisco’s outside cornerbacks in 2023.
Since the 49ers signed Ward to a three-year, $42 million contract in 2022, Ward has been one of their best additions. He was named to the AP All-Pro Second Team this past season.
Conversely, Lenoir has grown from being a rookie benched as a fifth-round pick to a front-line starter who, should the 49ers decide not to extend his contract before then, should fetch a big price as a free agent on the open market next summer.
Given the growing expenses of their roster, it is unclear if the 49ers will be able to retain the pair together when they become free agents in the upcoming offseason.
Ward’s contract has void years linked to it, thus the 49ers may be encouraged to extend his contract in order to avoid incurring a $12.298 million dead cap penalty the next summer.
The 49ers may decide to go the younger, less expensive path by extending Lenoir, who will start his age-26 season the following year, given that the All-Pro-caliber cornerback will be entering his 29th season in 2025.
The 49ers may decide to go the younger, less expensive path by extending Lenoir, who will start his age-26 season the following year, given that the All-Pro-caliber cornerback will be entering his 29th season in 2025.
The 49ers added other outside corners in free agency, including Isaac Yiadom, and selected a player in Renardo Green, who excelled on the outside in college, so there are still doubts about whether they eventually see Lenoir as an outside cornerback or in the nickel.
Even if Lenoir moves inside in 2024, he might expect to be compensated as an outside cornerback on his next contract after a strong season on the island in 2023.
It appears that San Francisco will have to choose between their two best cornerbacks, and that decision should be made prior to next year’s free agency, so the 49ers can beat the market and enter the offseason with some stability.
The tough part starts when you get behind Ward and Lenoir.
Lenoir was eventually shuffled between the outside and the nickel by the 49ers, who struggled at cornerback in 2023, alternating between free agency signee Isaiah Oliver and 2021 third-round pick Ambry Thomas.
In order to add some competition for the third place, they signed free agent Isaac Yiadom, who had his greatest season to date in 2023.
It feels like the quartet of Thomas, Luter, Womack, and Ya-Sin are fighting for the last two roster spots behind Ward, Lenoir, Yiadom, and Green. Of the bunch, Luter was a player the 49ers evaluated as a good system fit in that press-man role on the outside last offseason when taking him in the fifth round, and he and Womack are the only ones to have team control past this season. San Francisco also guaranteed Rock Ya-Sin over $1 million in free agency in an effort to add more veteran bodies to the room.
It is hoped that Green can challenge for a starting position early on, and the 49ers have demonstrated a willingness to allow rookies to compete by giving Lenoir, Thomas, and Womack early opportunities to establish themselves.
The 49ers would have two versatile corners in 2024 if Green were to start, and they would probably acquire their outside cornerback tandem for 2025 with the second-round pick and one of the current starters.
However, this team has added a lot of depth this summer, so this could be one of the roster’s more difficult camp battles.