Niners Nation
The 49ers made a major move on Tuesday, securing a key piece to their future. Let’s break down Lenoir’s contract.
The San Francisco 49ers made a major in-season move on Tuesday, extending ascending cornerback Deommodore Lenoir to a five-year, $92 million deal that keeps him off the free agent market this offseason and with the organization for the foreseeable future.
Kyle Shanahan said he was “pumped” to get Lenoir’s contract done this afternoon and that it’s something the team tried to get done during the offseason before talks resurfaced a couple of weeks ago:
“He’s exactly what we want as a Niner. His style of play, how good he’s become, and really just how much he loves football.”
Shanahan said Lenoir’s mindset is a lot like Jimmie Ward’s.
Lenoir, 25, was in the final year of his four-year rookie contract, and had elected to bet on himself in the offseason, looking to secure a top-line cornerback deal with another season of quality play after a strong training camp.
On Tuesday, he got exactly that, inking up to a five-year deal that answers a big question for the 49ers ahead of the season.
Let’s break down the contract itself and what it exactly means for the 49ers.
While the guarantees or the structure of the deal have yet to be revealed, the five-year, $92 million numbers are notable as a number of cornerbacks got top-of-the-market deals this offseason.
Lenoir’s average annual value (AAV) of $18.4 million ranks 12th among current cornerbacks. That number is notable, as Lenoir’s AAV comes behind six other cornerbacks who signed major deals or extensions this offseason: Jalen Ramsey, Patrick Surtain II, A.J. Terrell, Tyson Campbell, L’Jarius Sneed, and Jaylon Johnson.
Ramsey and Surtain set the market, but the remainder of the deals fell around the same range between $19 million and $20.25 million annually. Lenoir’s value falls just short of that, but is still an extensive number, indicating his ascension into a top cornerback in the NFL after a bumpy start to his career.
Of course, the guarantees will tell the full story of the contract, and those numbers were varying between all the cornerbacks who got deals this offseason.
Campbell’s $31.4 million guaranteed at signing was the lowest of the marks, ranking 12th among active cornerbacks. But, Sneed, Johnson, Terrell, and Surtain II all got at least $40 million guaranteed at signing, ranking No. 2-5 in the NFL behind Cleveland’s Denzel Ward.
I’d expect Lenoir to fall somewhere around the middle, with the five-year structure providing more flexibility on how the 49ers dish out the guarantees, as a bigger signing bonus can be prorated over one extra year.
But, this new deal locks Lenoir with San Francisco through the 2029 season, providing some clarity on what this means for the 49ers’ future.
Heading into the offseason, the 49ers seemed to have a strong core of cornerbacks, led by starters Lenoir and Charvarius Ward, with rookie Renardo Green and veteran...
