Ward had a down year in 2024 while he dealt with an unimaginable tragedy in his life, but prior to that he was considered one of the better cornerbacks in the NFL. There’s plenty of reason to believe he’ll bounce back in 2025.
But that bounce back may not happen with the 49ers. Ward has made it clear that the death of his one-year-old daughter has made staying in California extremely difficult, which could lead to him playing elsewhere next season.
“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,” he added. “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 is going to draw plenty of interest on the open market, and USA TODAY’s Tyler Dragon thinks the Detroit Lions may be one of the interested parties. Dragon has the Lions as the best potential landing spot for the former Pro Bowler.
As Dragon points out, Lions starting cornerback Carlton Davis is set to hit free agency and his departure would leave Detroit with a cornerbacks room of Amik Robertson and two second-year players in Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw Jr.
Arnold had a promising rookie campaign and is locked into a starting role moving forward, but Rakestraw barely played in his first season and is a total wild
For a team hoping to compete for a Super Bowl, it would be far too risky to not bring in a veteran insurance policy. Not only would Ward provide that, he would amount to a top-notch starting option and replacement for Davis.