The San Francisco 49ers got out ahead of cornerback Deommodore Lenoir's 2025 foray into free agency on Tuesday, ending the prospect of him hitting the open market by signing him to a five-year, $92 million extension.

Lenoir's new deal is extremely well deserved, the 2021 fifth-round pick having blossomed into one of the best and most versatile young corners in the NFL.

His value for the 49ers comes in how effectively he plays both inside and outside corner.

Lenoir's passer rating against this season is 35.7. When lined up in the slot, it is 29.6, per Sports Info Solutions. The latter is the third-best among cornerbacks with at least 10 targets in the slot.

An extremely aggressive run defender, Lenoir's importance in that regarded is reflected by the fact he ranks fourth among all cornerbacks in Sports Info Solutions' points saved metric in run defense. Lenoir is credited with 13.97 points saved.

While the full breakdown of his contract structure is yet to be released, Lenoir's extension carries an average annual value of $18.4 million, which would put him 11th for the cornerback position, per Spotrac.

For a 25-year-old who essentially plays two positions, has impressive on-ball production with two interceptions and six pass breakups this year, and is a substantial asset against the run, that is great value for the 49ers, who will likely look very smart for signing him early by the time free agency rolls around.

It is a deep pool of cornerbacks in free agency, which includes Lenoir's teammate Charvarius Ward, former 49er D.J. Reed, Rasul Douglas and Asante Samuel Jr.

Those players will have no shortage of suitors on the open market, and that would have been the case with Lenoir, meaning the Niners would have almost certainly had to pay an inflated price for his services.

The odds are that several of those deals will top the extension signed by Lenoir as teams overpay to add talent at a premium position. By the time 2025 free agency frenzy comes to an end, Lenoir's contract will probably have slid considerably down the rankings in terms of average annual value. 

In other words, come the start of the new league year, the 49ers will have an ascending corner who is clearly already among the top players in the NFL at the position locked down for his prime years on a contract that could, by that point, be outside of the top 15 in terms of average annual value.

The 49ers paid the price this year for failing to get Brandon Aiyuk tied down to a long-term deal until days before the new season, signing him to a contract well above their initial offer.

With Lenoir, there was never any thought of letting things get to that point, with head coach Kyle Shanahan revealing on Wednesday that the 49ers began contract negotiations several months ago.

"It was something we tried to get done in the offseason," said Shanahan. "Didn't get it done. They started working on it here a few weeks ago and to finish it up yesterday, so pumped.

"Can't say enough about DeMo, 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 and he's the same dude everyday. It was huge."

San Francisco had the foresight to start things early with Lenoir and, assuming he continues on his upward trajectory, that approach will be seen as a very astute one when the league officially flips the page to 2025.

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