SANTA CLARA — Charvarius Ward played the second half of the season at a Pro Bowl level during a point in his life where long stretches in his car were a problem.
It’s the weekly miracle of the NFL, where potentially serious injuries can be made to disappear and may not even wind up on the weekly report.
Ward is recovering from core surgery, has been rehabbing on the side during the 49ers’ mandatory minicamp and expects to be good to go for training camp in late July. It’s been bothering the man they call “Mooney” since his days with the Kansas City Chiefs.
“It started to get a little worse over time and the grind of a football season started to wear on my body so I had to get it done,” Ward said Tuesday. “I was balling the second half of the season. Didn’t take much of a toll on me, it seemed like.”
On the other hand . . .
“My lower back started to hurt,” Ward said. “Driving a car, sitting in a car for a long period of time, my body would just ache. I’m only in my mid-20s. I felt I was 35 or 40, damn near.”
Ward enters the third year of a contract he signed in 2022 worth up to $42.6 million. With a void year, Ward, a Pro Bowl selection and a second-team All-Pro in 2023, can become a free agent this offseason. He’s 28 and at the peak of his power as a player as well as earning power.
The 49ers signed Christian McCaffrey to a two-year extension Tuesday and are working on a deal to extend Brandon Aiyuk. It’s unclear where Ward falls in pecking order but he’s hopeful something can be worked out.
“I’d like to stick around,” Ward said. “They love me here. I love it here. Love all the coaches, all my teammates. but you know I’ll let my agent handle it. That’s the business side of things. I’m going to go out there and ball and put pressure on ’em, and hopefully they’ll give me a bag.
“If they don’t, there won’t be any bad blood between me and them. It will just be a business decision. But I’m pretty sure they’d like to have me and I’d like to stay.”
Ward isn’t the only one. Potential free agents following the 2024 season also include cornerback Deommodore Lenoir as well as left guard Aaron Banks and two players whose future deals are complicated by injury rehabs — linebacker Dre Greenlaw (Achillies) and safety Talanoa Hufanga (ACL).
With as talented a roster as there is in the NFL, putting together the financial jigsaw puzzle can be a challenge.
“I would say there aren’t any who are going to be free agents that we don’t want around here,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “We’ve built a good roster. And you can’t keep everybody around.”
Ward intercepted five passes last season. led the NFL by breaking up 23 more and lamented the ones that got away.
“I could have had almost 10 interceptions last year so I just want to make more plays, try to become more of a leader, more of a talker,” Ward said. “I’m kind of the old head of the group now.”
Defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen acknowledged Ward’s statistical production as well as his physicality — which also didn’t appear to drop off despite the core issue.
“He’s a really good tackler which is essential in our defense,” Sorensen said. “Everyone’s got to be able to tackle, run and hit, be violent. He does that. It’s good to see how he got recognition with his PBUs and interceptions. He keeps taking those steps as he matures and becomes that leader.”
Ward’s offseason has included a trip to South Africa (Zimbabwe, Johannesburg, Cape Town) that he says has changed his perspective.
“It taught me to be more grateful and thankful for everything I have,” Ward said. “I’m an NFL player, rich as hell, got one of the best jobs in the world but I still kind of stress about small things. They don’t have much, but their spirit is way up there . . . I come from poverty too. I come from nothing, and I know I went All-Pro last year, but I don’t want to get too comfortable. It’s going to teach me how to grind harder, match what I did last year and become even better.”
A veteran of 17 playoff games, 11 with the Chiefs, Ward started on the 2019 team that beat the 49ers’ 31-20 and was on the other side of it last Feb. 11, when Kansas City prevailed 25-22 in Las Vegas. He believes the margin to be razor thin, shading toward Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
“They were the better team because they won, but I felt we had a little more talent,” Ward said. “They just had the best player in the NFL. They got it done. That’s point blank, period.”