Six-year NFL free safety Jimmie Ward signed a three-year, $28 million contract with the San Francisco 49ers. The deal represents quite a turnaround for Ward as his inability to stay healthy in the regular season made it impossible for him to garner a long-term deal in last March’s free agency period. The 49ers brought Ward back on a one-year ($ 4.5 million guaranteed plus incentives) deal in 2019. His presence in the defensive secondary helped the Niners earn a berth in Super Bowl LIV last season.
The #49ers are giving safety Jimmie Ward a 3-year deal worth $28.5M, source said. He was a priority for that defense.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 17, 2020
Jimmie Ward Re-Signs With 49ers
Ward is a terrific defensive playmaker who offers much-needed versatility as he can play both safety positions and is a very serviceable nickel back. Some NFL talent evaluators believe Ward has re-defined the free safety position. But, the lone drawback has been his durability as Ward has only played in 64 out of a possible 96 regular season contests in six NFL seasons.
Heading into 2019, Ward was looking to recover from another broken bone injury that has prematurely ended his season for the third consecutive year. Ward’s injury woes began in 2014 with a stress fracture in his right foot, a fractured collarbone in 2016 and two separate fractures in his left forearm that occurred in 2017-18. Ward rebounded nicely this past season by making 13 starts and recording 60 (46 solo) tackles for the year. He showed great reaction time to locate the ball and break up pass plays across the middle of the field. Ward was rarely caught out of position and showed extreme discipline to play within the Niners high-tempo defensive scheme each week.
Coming out of Northern Illinois, Ward didn’t receive much fanfare. His aggressive mentality caught the attention of NFL scouts. They loved that Ward was physical and not afraid to put an opponent on the turf. His height (5-11, 193 lbs.) was never an on-field disadvantage as Ward was an excellent gap filler that regularly stuffed the opponent’s running game. He showed up on everyone’s radar after a 14-tackle performance against Florida State in the 2013 Orange Bowl. Ward’s post-season honors included third-team All-American, first-team All-MAC and a semi-finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award.
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