{"id":57939,"date":"2025-05-17T17:38:08","date_gmt":"2025-05-17T17:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/57939\/"},"modified":"2025-05-17T17:38:08","modified_gmt":"2025-05-17T17:38:08","slug":"49ers-gordon-lions-colts-titans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/57939\/","title":{"rendered":"49ers, Gordon, Lions, Colts, Titans"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 49ers\u2018 decision to let Charvarius Ward<\/a> walk in free agency points to Renardo Green<\/a> receiving an extended opportunity to become a full-time starter opposite Deommodore Lenoir<\/a>. Extended months before Ward\u2019s departure<\/a>, Lenoir has worked as both a boundary and slot corner. His $17.96MM-per-year contract, which checks in far north of the slot-only market, reflects this versatility. But the 49ers have been unable to find a pure slot option since K\u2019Waun Williams<\/a> departed in 2022. The team will give third-round pick Upton Stout<\/a> a shot to buck that trend, according to NBC Sports Bay Area\u2019s Matt Maiocco<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Standing 5-foot-8, Stout profiles as a slot performer. He excelled in the role in a college career spent at North Texas and Western Kentucky. Stout also led all DBs in the gauntlet drill and bench press (21 reps) at the Combine, creating an interesting profile. The 49ers\u2019 issues in the slot have prompted them to use Day 2 picks on two corners (Green, Stout) since 2024; Stout proving up to the task would stand to limit Lenoir\u2019s inside work. It will be interesting to see if the 49ers will keep their top cover man on the perimeter.<\/p>\n

Here is the latest from NFL secondaries:<\/p>\n

Kyler Gordon<\/a>\u2018s $13.3MM-per-year deal set the market for slot patrolmen recently<\/a>. That deal checks in more than $11MM south of Jaycee Horn<\/a>\u2018s extension and a whopping $16MM-plus lower than where Derek Stingley Jr.<\/a>\u00a0has taken the boundary CB market. While a recent Trade Rumors Front Office post highlighted the value teams receive when they identify a quality slot defender, the Bears are not committed to keeping Gordon inside. New Bears DC Dennis Allen said (via ChicagoBears.com\u2019s Larry Mayer<\/a>) Gordon will train at safety and at outside corner in his scheme, as the team looks to increase its recently extended defender\u2019s usage rate. Gordon played 97% of Chicago\u2019s defensive snaps as a rookie, but upon shifting to more of a slot role in 2023, the former second-round pick has not cleared 80% in a season since.
\nThe Lions will have 2024 second-round pick Ennis Rakestraw<\/a> train on the outside in Kelvin Sheppard\u2018s first DC offseason, per Detroit Football Network\u2019s Justin Rogers<\/a>. Playing only 46 defensive snaps as a rookie, the 5-11 CB received what amounted to a redshirt year. The Lions used a premium pick on Rakestraw, though he does not look to have a path to a starting job in a secondary that will feature Terrion Arnold<\/a>, D.J. Reed<\/a> and Amik Robertson<\/a> as regulars.
\nDetroit also added some depth in Avonte Maddox<\/a>, a longtime Eagles slot corner who drifted to a backup role after a slew of injuries. Maddox will be expected to serve as a backup in the slot and at safety, according to Lions safeties coach Jim O\u2019Neil (via Rogers<\/a>). Maddox, who did make a pivotal pass breakup in Super Bowl LIX, saw his snap share drop to 33% last season \u2014 after he missed most of 2023. The eighth-year veteran is on a one-year, $1.42MM deal<\/a> ($1.2MM guaranteed).
\nTitans third-round pick Kevin Winston<\/a>, per HC Brian Callahan, is expected to be cleared for training camp after sustaining a partial ACL tear last year. Winston, who suffered the injury in early September, underwent knee surgery but had recovered in time to run at the Penn State pro day. The Titans chose Winston with the No. 82 overall pick.
\nThe Colts roster one of the NFL\u2019s best slot corners, and Kenny Moore<\/a> is going into his ninth season with the team. Indianapolis, however, may be grooming an heir apparent. They team is likely to have third-round pick Justin Walley<\/a> begin his offseason in the slot, ESPN\u2019s Jeremy Fowler notes<\/a>. Moore\u2019s three-year, $30MM contract<\/a> features a fully guaranteed 2025 salary but no guarantees beyond this year. The Pro Bowl defender, who has protected the Colts at one CB spot while they have dealt with enduring issues on the perimeter, is going into his age-30 season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 49ers\u2018 decision to let Charvarius Ward walk in free agency points to Renardo Green receiving an extended…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57940,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2071],"tags":[14450,391,146,113,2506,6296,7,392,1008,4422,147,6,252,394,16582],"class_list":{"0":"post-57939","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-lions","8":"tag-avonte-maddox","9":"tag-chicago-bears","10":"tag-detroit","11":"tag-detroit-lions","12":"tag-detroitlions","13":"tag-ennis-rakestraw","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-indianapolis-colts","16":"tag-justin-walley","17":"tag-kyler-gordon","18":"tag-lions","19":"tag-nfl","20":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","21":"tag-tennessee-titans","22":"tag-upton-stout"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114524396710296502","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}