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Can the 49ers Afford to Extend Charvarius Ward's Contract?

It's entirely possible Ward will play himself out of town this season.

Grant Cohn

Dec 17, 2023; Glendale, Arizona, USA; San Francisco 49ers cornerback Charvarius Ward (7) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 17, 2023; Glendale, Arizona, USA; San Francisco 49ers cornerback Charvarius Ward (7) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
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Charvarius Ward might be the most underappreciated player on the 49ers.

He's never mentioned as one of the 49ers' best players, and yet last season he established himself as a shutdown cornerback, particularly the second half of the season when he shadowed opposing no. 1 wide receivers around the field and covered them 1 on 1, man to man. Not many corners in the NFL can do that as was as Ward can.

Now he's entering the final season of his contract with the 49ers. And if he replicates his performance from 2023 in 2024, he'll be in line for a huge payday next year. And the 49ers might not be able to give it to him.

I'm sure they'd love to keep Ward, but they also have to extend Brandon Aiyuk's contract and Brock Purdy's contract, and those deals will be outrageously expensive. So those deals will take priority.

As good as Ward is, he's 28 and he's coming off core muscle surgery, which means his body began to break down last season. Of course, he played through the injuries, but eventually he won't be able to do that. It's risky to invest big money in a cornerback who's almost 30.

That's why I think the 49ers might choose to extend cornerback Deommodore Lenoir's contract instead. Lenoir isn't as good as Ward, but Lenoir is younger and will be much cheaper, which means he should fit in the 49ers' budget.

It's entirely possible Ward will play himself out of town this season.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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