The details of Deommodore Lenoir’s contract extension with the San Francisco 49ers have been released, and they make it even more apparent that the deal was a huge win for the Niners.
Getting out in front of Lenoir’s 2025 free agency in the middle of another extremely strong season for the versatile cornerback looked a very savvy move when the extension was first reported as a five-year, $92 million pact on Tuesday.
Now the breakdown of the contract is out in the public domain, it’s clear the 49ers have scored a huge victory in getting a key player tied down for the long term at a very affordable price on a deal that gives them a lot of future flexibility.
The headline is that the deal is actually a five-year, $89.8 million contract, per Over The Cap, with Lenoir averaging $17.96 million a year, 12th among all corners.
With Lenoir’s all-around impact as a player who can operate at both outside corner and nickel and who defends the run tremendously well, it is a contract that is likely going to look like a massive steal come the end of free agency next year, when a host of impressive starters at the position are set to hit the market.
But more pertinent to how the 49ers will manage the salary cap in the coming years, when they will no longer have the benefit of having the cheapest starting quarterback in the NFL, with Brock Purdy in all likelihood set to receive a mammoth contract in the offseason, is the lack of guaranteed money in Lenoir’s deal.
Lenoir’s contract features $15.46 million fully guaranteed. A $13 million signing bonus prorates through 2028 while there is also a further $2 million in 2025 salary guaranteed at signing.
The 2021 fifth-round pick also has a 2025 option worth $6.5 million that becomes fully guaranteed at the start of the new league year. That prorates from 2025 through to the end of the deal.
But with none of the base salaries from 2026 to 2029, only one of which is under $16 million, guaranteed, the 49ers have the maneuverability to manipulate the cap down the line by converting base salary into a signing bonus.
Per Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk, the amount fully guaranteed to Lenoir at signing accounts for just 17 percent of the new money in the deal. That is the smallest such portion of fully guaranteed money for any corner making over $2 million a year.
In other words, Lenoir’s contract is already a steal for the 49ers, will look even better come 2025 and will give them the opportunity to move money around in future years to keep the roster together as best they can even as the impact of Purdy’s prospective new deal starts to hit. Lenoir made it clear on Wednesday he had no desire to play anywhere else, and his willingness to stay home allowed the 49ers to keep an integral player on an extremely team-friendly deal.
