49ers secure cornerstone defender with contract extension

Ahead of him reaching free agency this offseason, the San Francisco 49ers were proactive with nickel cornerback Deommodore Lenoir, agreeing to a five-year contract extension valued at $92 million, per NFL insider Ari Meirov.

San Francisco dragged out contract negotiations this past offseason with Brandon Aiyuk and Trent Williams, who held out before agreeing to a $82.66M deal.

Before Lenoir's contract extension, the 49ers had over $52.7M in cap space for the 2024 season, most in the NFL. That's one of the perks of having quarterback Brock Purdy under contract for just a touch over $1M this year.

Lenoir's contract now earns him annually as much as teammate and fellow cornerback Charvarius Ward does this season at $18.4M. Lenoir is now the 15th-highest paid corner in the league. Ward is also on an expiring contract and will likely command more AAV than Lenoir from the 49ers or another team via free agency.

Difficult offseason coming for 49ers

San Francisco will have difficult decisions to make in 2025. Ward, Dre Greenlaw, Ambry Thomas, Talanoa Hufanga, Elijah Mitchell, Jon Feliciano, Jordan Mason, Rock Ya-Sin and many others are on expiring deals. George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Leonard Floyd, Jauan Jennings, Kyle Juszczyk and Purdy will be in the final year of their contract next season.

With the quarterback market where it is, Purdy will likely be paid at least $55M per year, which is the AAV for Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence and Jordan Love. Dak Prescott is the highest-paid player in the NFL at $60M, and the 49ers will want to avoid that total.

Lenoir actually believes Purdy is on his way to a $60M per year contract, per David Bonilla of 49ers Webzone.

“I practice against a $60 million quarterback, too. Yeah, he just ain't been paid yet. He's gonna break the bank. Shout out to Brock.”

Remarkably, by average annual salary, Purdy is the fourth-lowest paid signal-caller in the NFL, only ahead of Tyson Bagent, Sam Ehlinger and Tommy DeVito.

Judging by this past offseason's free agency strategy, the 49ers will fill in the blanks around their core superstars via free agency. Most of the players who hit unrestricted free agency last season moved on. Players such as Sam Darnold, Oren Bucks, Sebastian Joseph-Day, Clelin Ferrell, Javon Kinlaw, Randy Gregory, and others signed elsewhere. Meanwhile, San Francisco added 15 free agents and one player via trade.