Breaking down the 90 players on the 49ers’ offseason roster in 90 posts (over 90 or so days). Today is CB Deommodore Lenoir
We were getting ready to talk about how the San Francisco 49ers need Deommodore Lenoir to mature as a player, before that conversation got sidetracked, and Lenoir played hot potato with a set of keys to get under the skin of the Los Angeles police department, ultimately resulting in an obstruction of justice charge.
It feels like that news was a week ago. Most of you have likely already forgotten about it. It’ll be about a month until we see Lenoir in action at training camp. The 26-year-old is coming off a career season and is yet another example of this regime maximizing the value of a 5th-round pick.
On 14 fewer targets than 2023 — usually a sign that a cornerback has improved in coverage if there isn’t a drastic drop in snaps — Lenoir saw his completion percentage drop by more than 10 percent, yards per target decrease by 2.5 yards, and did not allow a touchdown in 2024. There’s a reason the Niners gave Lenoir just under $90 million in new money last November.
Basic Info
Age: 26
Experience: 4 accrued seasons
Height: 5’10
Weight: 199 pounds
Cap Status
Lenoir’s base salary remains incredibly cheap for two more seasons. His unique contract structure only features $1.6 million in guaranteed money. Lenoir will earn the final $1,170,000 of that in the form of his base salary in 2025.
Throughout the duration of Lenoir’s contract, he’ll earn his full signing bonus, which is just over $13 million, and an option bonus that amounts to $21 million. Lenoir’s signing bonus is divided into five years, where he’ll earn $2.6 million from 2024 to 2028.
The option bonus is spread out through 2030 — Lenoir’s contract has two extra ghost years, which helps the 49ers manipulate the cap. The bonus is $1.3 million in 2025, but increases to $4.2 million from 2026 to 2029, and then drops to $2.9 million in 2030.
Have we seen Lenoir’s ceiling?
Sports Info Solutions had Lenoir as the 20th most valuable cornerback in the NFL last season. Per Over the Cap, Lenoir has the 17th highest paid contract out of 345 cornerbacks.
How much better can Lenoir get? Have we seen his peak? Based on his contract structure, Lenoir will never make more than $17 million in a season. And by the time he does come close to that number, it’ll be when he turns 30, and the 49ers can get out of the deal with minimal salary cap repercussions.
I think it’s fair to highlight that if the team doesn’t view Lenoir as a top-10 cornerback, salary-wise, then we should temper expectations and understand who Lenoir is as a player. That’s especially true if Lenoir remains the nickel.
Kyle Shanahan said the team would try Lenoir on the outside this season. That’s how it was during mini-camp, and it should continue during training camp. This will be new-ish territory for Lenoir, as only 187 of his 922 defensive snaps came on the perimeter last season.
This season, the difference in defending slot wide receivers and those outside of the numbers is guarding Davante Adams, Marvin Harrison Jr., Chris Olave, and Mike Evans, and that’s just in the first half of the season. He’ll take on a much bigger role against stronger competition on the outside this season.
Lenoir has proven to be an impact player at nickel. His contributions against the run are top-notch. It won’t be as easy to do so on the outside, putting Robert Saleh in a bit of a conundrum on where to use one of the better players on defense.
In the same breath, that versatility will take pressure off whoever wins the CB3 job. Whether we’ve seen the best version of Lenoir, if his play plateaus and he remains the same, consistent, fiesty, pain in the butt type of player he’s been during the previous two seasons, he’s living up to the contract the Niners have given him.