NFL Analysis
3/4/25
5 min read
2025 NFL Free Agency: 5 Best Fits For San Francisco 49ers CB Charvarius Ward
With NFL free agency less than a week away, multiple teams will be contacting Charvarius Ward as one of the top available cornerbacks this offseason.
A former undrafted free agent in 2018, Ward has become one of the most consistent cornerbacks in the league in recent years. His peak season came in 2023 when he led the league with 23 pass breakups to go along with five interceptions.
While Ward is coming off a down year in 2024, his overall body of work as a cornerback still in his prime at 28 years old suggests that he should be a key piece of whichever defense he plays for in the future. During his career, he's allowed a passer rating of just 82.9 when targeted and only has a missed tackle rate of 5.2 percent.
Let's examine a few logical landing spots for Ward based on positional needs and financial flexibility.
Charvarius Ward Landing Spots
Las Vegas Raiders 
Teams with significant cap space to spend on free agents will be in the mix for just about everyone on the open market. For the Las Vegas Raiders, with so many top targets already signing extensions or franchise tags before hitting free agency, a player like Ward could make a lot of sense to bolster their secondary.
The Raiders didn't have any cornerback assert themselves as an option to reliably cover the other team's No. 1 option this past season. Ward could change that quickly with the size and length at 6-foot-1 and 197 pounds to cover some of the league's best targets.
On top of the need for a top cornerback, the Raiders also have over $93 million in cap space to work with. They could offer an extremely competitive offer to Ward while still having plenty of money left over to take a couple more swings on top free agents.
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers have a pressing need at cornerback, but that could quickly become their top positional need, depending on what happens to Jaire Alexander.
General manager Brian Gutekunst is currently fielding trade offers for Alexander. Still, it's just as likely that the star corner will be released if the Packers can't find a trade partner. With Alexander on the way out, the Packers' options at cornerback include Carrington Valentine, Eric Stokes, and Keisean Nixon.
The good news for the Packers is that they have the resources to load up on the position this offseason. Along with plenty of draft picks, they also have $41 million in cap space. They're likely to take a swing on some kind of top free agent or blockbuster trade to stay competitive in the NFC, and a move for a proven cornerback like Ward could be exactly what Jeff Hafley's defense needs.
New England Patriots
Christian Gonzalez is one of only a handful of players on the New England Patriots roster that they can build around. However, even with needs at so many other positions, the Patriots could consider building on one of their few strengths by adding another starting-caliber cornerback in Ward.
Adding Ward to New England's secondary would be a huge upgrade on the opposite side of Gonzalez and give the Patriots some versatility with how to line up their corners. Jonathan Jones has a solid career in New England. Still, the 31-year-old corner showed major signs of age-related regression this past season, allowing seven touchdowns and coming up with zero interceptions when targeted.
Jones is hitting free agency, and with $128 million in cap space to work with, the Patriots can spend money on several players, including Ward, to try to build a playoff-caliber roster around players like Gonzalez and Drake Maye.
Los Angeles Rams
The Los Angeles Rams have one of the most exciting young defenses in the league, replacing a legendary player in Aaron Donald with an ascending defensive front led by Defensive Rookie of the Year Jared Verse. However, the secondary is still a work in progress, and they'll potentially be losing one of their starting corners in Ahkello Witherspoon to free agency.
Replacing Witherspoon with Ward this offseason could be a major upgrade to the secondary. That being said, the Rams are working through multiple contract situations and could be focusing on getting young across the board, with plans to trade Cooper Kupp away.
Depending on how the Rams want to approach free agency with their $39 million in cap space, Ward could be an option to keep building out what could be one of the best defenses in football in 2025.
Minnesota Vikings
There is still a lot of time to fix it, but there is a mass exodus of cornerbacks leaving the Minnesota Vikings.
After such a strong season from Brian Flores' unit, the Vikings now have four of their top cornerbacks hitting free agency, including starts in Camryn Bynum and Stephon Gillmore. As it currently stands, Mekhi Blackmon and Dwight McGlothern are the only outside cornerbacks under contract.
After such a strong 2024 season, Bynum will likely be a top priority for the Vikings to bring back, but even if they keep him in Minnesota, cornerback is still a significant need for this defense. The Vikings have $62 million in cap space to work with, so they might have enough financial flexibility to be in the Ward market, regardless of their long-term plans with Bynum.
