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Nick Wagoner, ESPN Staff WriterNov 13, 2024, 07:09 PM ET
- Nick Wagoner is an NFL reporter at ESPN. Nick has covered the San Francisco 49ers and the NFL at ESPN since 2016, having previously covered the St. Louis Rams for 12 years, including three years (2013 to 2015) at ESPN. In his 10 years with the company, Nick has led ESPN’s coverage of the Niners’ 2019 Super Bowl run, Colin Kaepernick’s protest, the Rams making Michael Sam the first openly gay player drafted to the NFL, Sam’s subsequent pursuit of a roster spot and the team’s relocation and stadium saga. You can follow Nick via Twitter @nwagoner
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Before cornerback Deommodore Lenoir was ready to sign a lucrative contract extension with the San Francisco 49ers, he first wanted to make sure everyone else could see what he had long since believed: that he was among the best in the NFL at his position.
“I was always the person (who) would be confident and then speaking aloud and saying stuff like I’m the best,” Lenoir said. “But I wanted to prove to you guys first and prove to the world who I am.”
Regardless of what the rest of the football world thinks, the Niners sent a resounding message that they concurred with Lenoir’s self-assessment on Tuesday when the sides agreed to a five-year, $92 million contract extension. Lenoir officially signed the deal Wednesday morning and then spent about 10 minutes discussing his long road to the deal with Bay Area media before practice.
During that conversation, Lenoir recounted a humorous story about how he almost never even got close to signing a long-term extension in San Francisco. After the 49ers used a fifth-round pick in the 2021 NFL draft on him, Lenoir made a quick first impression with his physicality during the team’s rookie minicamp.
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But that impression quickly turned sour when Lenoir posted video of some reps from the practices in which he was a bit too hands-on for an offseason practice. The video quickly went viral and resulted in a $100,000 fine for the team and a $50,000 fine for coach Kyle Shanahan.
“He stuck out our first day of rookie camps when he got me fined a lot because you jam people too hard and then put it on the internet,” Shanahan said, laughing. “That was the first time I ever got mad at him but I was really excited about it despite what it took away (from) my kids’ college tuition. But it showed we had the right type of dude.”
After a few bumps in his rookie year, including a costly mistake in a Week 3 loss to the Green Bay Packers that led to a drastic cut in playing time for the rest of that season, Lenoir reemerged early in the 2022 season.
In a breakout 2023 campaign, Lenoir had staked his claim to not only one of the two starting outside cornerback spots but also as the team’s best slot corner, bumping inside in nickel packages. He played 570 snaps on the outside and 311 in the slot, posting 84 tackles and three interceptions while allowing a minus-4.7 EPA (expected points added), 80.1 passer rating and just one touchdown when targeted.
Lenoir has been even better this season, with 53 tackles, a forced fumble and two interceptions, while yielding a passer rating of 66.5 when targeted as the nearest defender, according to Next Gen Stats.
Lenoir’s production, combined with a tenacious approach that allows him to excel as a run defender as much as in coverage, has endeared him to teammates such as end Nick Bosa and linebacker Fred Warner. Bosa calls Lenoir “one of my favorite teammates I’ve ever played with” and Warner says Lenoir is having “an All-Pro-type year.”
“He’s exactly what you want in a Niner,” Warner said. “He does it all, plays nickel for us, corner, the physicality he brings to the position. Being lock down on the outside and being able to get his nose dirty on the inside, it’s something that you don’t see a lot in the NFL and so he got paid like it.”
Indeed, Lenoir said when he got the news that the deal was done, he immediately burst into tears knowing he had changed the trajectory of his family’s life for generations to come. As an added bonus, he also has a chance to atone for the rookie mistake he made nearly four years ago, even though he maintains he posted the video by accident.
“Now I can finally pay Kyle back for (his son) Carter’s tuition,” Lenoir said.
While the Niners now know they’ll have Lenoir around for five more years, there are more pressing worries about some of their top players’ availabilities for Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks. Bosa (hip) and tight end George Kittle (hamstring) did not participate in Wednesday’s practice after battling through their respective injuries last week against Tampa Bay.
Shanahan said he’s not overly anxious that Bosa and Kittle will miss this week’s game, noting that he expects to have Kittle back in practice on Thursday.
Bosa’s situation appears more tenuous. After suffering a hip pointer in practice last week, he played 49 snaps against the Bucs with an injury he called “the worst thing I’ve had to play through” on Wednesday.
According to Bosa, rest is the only thing that will help his ailing hip, which is why he’s unlikely to participate in practice all week.
“It’s going to be definitely close (to play Sunday),” Bosa said. “I kind of tried to push through last week in practice and that didn’t work, so I’m just going to rest this whole week and see what happens.”
Punter Mitch Wishnowsky‘s back injury is also an issue for the Niners, so much so that they signed punter Pat O’Donnell to the practice squad on Wednesday.
“I’m a little more concerned with that,” Shanahan said. “Bothered him earlier in the year … And it’s flared up here this last week and so we’ll see how this week goes, but that’s why we brought in another guy. So hopefully it’ll take a turn for the better here, but right now we have some concern.”
