The 49ers are not messing around on the backend. With two massive looming decisions at corner this offseason in Deommodore Lenoir and Charvarius Ward both set to hit free agency, the 49ers were proactive.
Per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, among others, the 49ers signed Lenoir to a whopping five-year, $92 million extension Tuesday.
It puts Lenoir just at the end of the elite corner category at $18 million per year, with Jaylon Johnson's $19 million per year figure followed by a roughly $4 million drop off.
It's a figure which, regardless of how much turns out to be guaranteed, makes Lenoir the highest, or second-highest-paid nickel corner in the NFL (Marlon Humphrey plays in the slot substantially, too). Now, he's not just a nickel, which is why the 49ers cut this check this early. They didn't want to see him make it to the market.
Lenoir's ability to play in the slot on nickel downs and outside on base downs makes him an invaluable asset. He fits runs better than most of the 49ers' linebackers and has been a dynamic playmaker in the pass game. Pro Football Focus, for whatever it's worth, has him as the 43rd-highest-graded corner in the NFL out of 119 qualified corner (Renardo Green is third).
This sets the stage for the 49ers to move forward with a pairing of Lenoir, 25, and the already stellar Green, 24, as their cornerbacks of the present and future. All of a sudden the 49ers' young defensive talent lies heavily in their secondary.