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Jaylon Jones

49ers Did Not Offer Charvarius Ward Extension; Latest On Colts’ CB Corps

August 1st, 2025 at 5:32pm CST by Sam Robinson

Charvarius Ward landed on his feet in free agency, joining a few third-contract-seeking cornerbacks in collecting a nice payday on Day 1 of the legal tampering period. That market settled in between $16-$18MM per year, and Ward landed a deal on the high end of that range by signing with the Colts.

The All-Pro corner’s three-year, $54MM deal matched the pacts given to Carlton Davis and Byron Murphy, and it came after a down year for Ward in San Francisco. Ward mourned the loss of his 1-year-old daughter, who died in October. Ward missed three games, but he admitted his 49ers tenure was going south independent of his personal tragedy.

“Even before everything happened with my baby, I really wasn’t super motivated,” Ward said, via The Athletic’s Michael Silver. “Because after the year I had in ‘23, I wanted a contract extension — because I wanted to stay — and I knew I wasn’t getting a contract offer. They came to me and kind of told me what it was, ’cause they had (other) people to pay. So it kind of had me in my feelings a little bit. I just never made it public.

“I was hurt when I realized I wasn’t getting a contract extension or even an offer for an extension. So, I wasn’t motivated; like, from OTAs all the way through camp, I was kind of pissed off. I knew when the season started it was a wrap for me in the Bay.”

Kyle Shanahan said the 49ers were interested in paying Ward, but their actions revealed he was almost definitely set to be a one-contract 49er. San Francisco paid their other starting corner, Deommodore Lenoir, weeks after the death of Ward’s daughter. Lenoir, more than three years younger than the 29-year-old Ward, became the corner the 49ers built their 2025 roster around. Ward joins Kenny Moore in a suddenly pricey Colts CB corps. The 49ers also let the likes of Dre Greenlaw, Talanoa Hufanga and Aaron Banks walk; they have since paid Brock Purdy, George Kittle and Fred Warner as well.

PFR’s No. 23 free agent, Ward will be expected to reprise his 2023 form in Indianapolis. He earned second-team All-Pro acclaim for that season, which produced a 49ers NFC championship. In 2024, however, Ward yielded 61.5% accuracy as the closest defender. This corresponded with a rise in passer rating allowed (116.6 – up from 2023’s 64.5 number). Pro Football Focus had rated Ward as a top-six corner in both 2022 and ’23, but it dropped him to 93rd. Despite moving close to 30, Ward commanded a big market — one that included interest from the Saints and Chiefs.

Ward and Moore will anchor Indy’s CB cadre, but the team has seen rookie Justin Walley push for a starting role. Walley drew praise during the Colts’ offseason program, but other competitors for the team’s boundary job opposite Ward (Jaylon Jones, Julius Brents) were down with injuries. Hamstring issues have limited both in training camp as well. Walley has since continued his ascent to the point he appears the favorite to be the team’s third CB starter, The Athletic’s James Boyd notes. The Colts have given the third-round pick first-team work alongside Moore and Ward, according to the Indianapolis Star’s Joel Erickson.

Although Walley worked with the starters during the first week of Colts camp, Erickson notes the competition is not over. Jones made 27 starts from 2023-24, helping the team cover for Brents’ injury trouble. Brents is a former second-round pick who arrived just before the Isaiah Rodgers gambling scandal emerged, but the Indianapolis native has played only 11 games in two seasons.

Walley was rumored to be a Moore heir apparent in the slot. At 5-foot-11, the Minnesota alum has filled in for the veteran staple there during camp as well. Moore is not in any danger of being displaced this year, but the Colts look ready to give Walley a big role in the not-too-distant future. That may start on the perimeter this season.

Titans Claim CB Darrell Baker Jr.

August 29th, 2024 at 7:31pm CST by Sam Robinson

As they transitioned from Stephon Gilmore‘s one-and-done, they trotted out an unproven cornerback group save for slot ace Kenny Moore. One of the players Indianapolis used as a starter to open the season is now on Tennessee’s roster.

After the Colts waived Darrell Baker Jr. on Wednesday, the Titans submitted a successful claim, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson tweets. Two years remain on Baker’s rookie contract.

Baker initially made Indianapolis’ 53-man roster, but the team subsequently claimed Samuel Womack off waivers from the 49ers. Rather than passing through waivers to a potential Indy practice squad slot, Baker will head to another AFC South team’s 53-man roster.

The Colts opened last season with Baker as a starting corner and gave him five more starts on the outside as the season progressed. Baker was not viewed as a starter coming into camp, and the Indianapolis Star’s Joel Erickson adds 2023 seventh-round pick Jaylon Jones won the job opposite Julius Brents. Baker had been working opposite Dallis Flowers with the Colts’ second-stringers. Baker played 467 defensive snaps last season — after none his rookie year — and Pro Football Focus ranked the former UDFA outside the top 100 at the position.

Tennessee moved on from three-year contributor Elijah Molden via trade and cut bait on Caleb Farley‘s first-round contract. As Dennard Wilson takes over on defense in Nashville, the team added two big-ticket pieces in free agent Chidobe Awuzie and trade pickup L’Jarius Sneed. With Roger McCreary expected to patrol the slot, the Titans look to have Baker en route as a second-string option. The team also rosters fifth-round rookie Jarvis Brownlee at the position.

The Titans also signed Nick Vannett from their practice squad and placed fourth-round rookie linebacker Cedric Gray on IR, Wilson adds,

Jaylon Jones, Dallis Flowers Vying For Colts Starting CB Job; JuJu Brents Likely To Start

July 4th, 2024 at 10:40am CST by Sam Robinson

An early-May report indicated the Colts could be in the market for veteran help in the secondary. Boundary cornerback would seemingly be the team’s focus here. In between the offseason program and training camp, however, no such signing transpired.

The Colts, who ranked 28th in pass defense last season, included slot ace Kenny Moore among their spate of re-signings but have questions about both outside cornerback posts. One of those spots looks to be earmarked for JuJu Brents, per The Athletic’s James Boyd, but the other position will bring competition (subscription required).

[RELATED: Nick Cross In Lead For Starting S Role]

Brents may not be a true lock to start, but the Colts chose him in the 2023 second round and used him as an eight-game starter last season. Brents was sidelined for two extended stretches, though he did suit up for the team’s final four games. Pro Football Focus slotted Brents 66th among corners last season.

Opposite the Indianapolis native, the Colts feature uncertainty. The team drafted two corners, selecting Jaylin Simpson in Round 5 and Micah Abraham in Round 6, but Boyd points to Jaylon Jones and Dallis Flowers as the primary competitors for the boundary job opposite Brents.

A 10-game starter last season, Jones worked with the first-stringers for most of the Colts’ offseason workouts. The team drafted Jones in the 2023 seventh round, and the Texas A&M product made the quick move into the starting lineup. Brents missing eight games and Flowers going down with an Achilles tear in early October contributed to this, and PFF ranked Jones 94th last season. He was charged with five touchdowns allowed. Flowers made five starts in two seasons, working behind Stephon Gilmore and the Isaiah Rodgers–Brandon Facyson tandem in 2022, but the Division II product was working with the starters each week before going down last year.

The Colts clearly believe in their current nucleus, as their batch of re-signings and extensions — headlined by the likes of Moore, Julian Blackmon, Michael Pittman Jr., DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart — illustrate, but the team having employed Moore and still ranking in the bottom five in pass defense seems to point toward a deficiency at a rather key area.

Options are limited, as could be expected, weeks away from camp. Xavien Howard is not expected to be a Colts consideration, Boyd adds, due to the the civil suit that came up since his Dolphins release. Another potential option, Steven Nelson, retired after nine seasons. Adoree’ Jackson remains available ahead of his age-29 campaign, as does Gilmore, who will turn 34 in September. Patrick Peterson is also available ahead of his age-34 season.

Indy only has two non-homegrown players — Buckner and Samson Ebukam — projected to start (Moore technically counts, as a Patriots UDFA, but he was a Colt before his rookie season started). In the free agency era, that is obviously a rather low number. As of now, the team is preparing to roll out an entirely homegrown secondary. The Flowers-Jones competition may change that, but for the time being, Indy’s inward-focused plan extends to cornerback.

NFL Draft Pick Signings: 5/5/23

May 5th, 2023 at 6:55pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are a few more mid- to late-round draft picks who signed their four-year rookie contracts today:

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

  • CB Darius Rush (fifth round, South Carolina)
  • S Daniel Scott (fifth round, California)
  • DE Titus Leo (sixth round, Wagner)
  • CB Jaylon Jones (seventh round, Texas A&M)
  • T Jake Witt (seventh round, Northern Michigan)

New York Giants

New York Jets