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Nick Wagoner, ESPN Staff Writer
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — After what he called the most difficult year of his life, San Francisco 49ers cornerback Charvarius Ward will carry a heavy heart into unrestricted free agency in March.
Ward’s life turned upside down in late October when his daughter, Amani Joy, died just before her second birthday after a lengthy battle with heart issues. On Monday, the day after the Niners’ season ended at 6-11, Ward spoke publicly for the first time about how difficult this season has been for him and his family, what it means for his future in San Francisco and what might be next.
During the roughly 10-minute conversation, Ward didn’t completely rule out a return to the 49ers, but he acknowledged that a more probable outcome is a fresh start elsewhere, somewhere the pain of his daughter’s loss isn’t so prevalent.
“I’ve got a lot of trauma in California,” Ward said. “I had a lot of great times, but the worst thing that’s ever happened to me, that’s probably going to ever happen to me — knock on wood — happened in California. It can just bring up bad memories. Every time I get on a plane and come back to California, Santa Clara, San Jose, and show up here, it just brings up bad memories.
“I go through that every day. I go home every night by myself because my girl, she doesn’t want to come back to California because of what happened. So, it is hard being alone, and she’s my strength right now. I need her, and so her not being able to be around me if I’m in California, it’d be tough.”
Ward said Monday he still suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder from his daughter’s death, which leads to waking up in a sweat in the middle of the night as well as occasional vomiting.
After announcing Amani’s death on Instagram on Oct. 29, Ward took time away from the team, sitting out three games before returning to the field on Dec. 1 against the Buffalo Bills. He played in five of the final six games of the season, sitting out only the Dec. 30 loss to the Detroit Lions so he could return to Dallas for the birth of a son, Charvarius Jr.
That moment of happiness was a welcome respite in a season Ward called the worst of his career. He attributed his struggles on the field to what he was going through off it. Ward revealed Monday that he and his girlfriend nearly lost their son early in the pregnancy before Amani died. After earning his first Pro Bowl nod and a second-team All-Pro spot in 2023 — when he had 72 tackles, five interceptions and a forced fumble — Ward had 54 tackles, no interceptions and no forced fumbles in 12 games in 2024.
“It took everything physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually,” Ward said. “It took all of that every day for me to just come here and be able to practice. I wasn’t going to meetings half the time. My social battery was so low. It was just hard being around people. I didn’t want people to feel sorry for me and everything like that. I just tried to show up and be there for my teammates.”
With the season over, Ward said he would be “the most motivated I’ve ever been” going into 2025. The answer he doesn’t yet have is where that will take place. The 49ers signed Ward to a three-year, $42.5 million deal on March 17, 2022, and immediately installed him as their top corner.
For the first two seasons of that deal, Ward played what he called Monday the best football of his career. Had he been entering free agency coming off those years, Ward estimates that he’d have been “one of the highest paid corners in the game.” Since that didn’t happen, Ward is unsure of how he will be valued when he hits the open market again.
Complicating a return to San Francisco further is the fact that the 49ers signed fellow cornerback Deommodore Lenoir to a five-year extension worth up to $92 million in November and rookie corner Renardo Green made a strong impression in his first NFL season.
According to Ward, 49ers general manager John Lynch expressed interest in bringing him back but both sides understand it will come down to what kind of offers the 28-year-old corner might receive elsewhere.
“I think they went into this season thinking they wasn’t going to be able to afford me based off the way I played last year,” Ward said. “If they can afford me, there’s a chance I can come back, but they may not be able to afford me.”
The pull of family also figures into Ward’s free agency. He said he would “love” to be back home in Dallas or somewhere in the south that isn’t far from there. Asked whether he viewed Monday as a “final goodbye” to the 49ers, Ward shook his head in the affirmative and said it did “kind of feel like that.”
Before he left, he made sure to dole out handshakes and hugs to teammates and support staff. He emphasized the strong relationships he built throughout the building and how much appreciation he had for the Niners allowing him to take his time to return to football. He also carefully signed jerseys for teammates and took some of theirs with him, including one from linebacker Fred Warner.
As Ward walked off into the uncertainty of the offseason, there was only one thing he knew for sure he wanted in whatever comes next.
“I just want to go somewhere where I’m wanted and where I’m loved,” Ward said. “I feel like that’s what I need right now, a lot of love.”
Source: www.espn.com