Go to the system settings, then Apps, then tap Menu>Show System. You should see Contacts there, and probably also Contacts Storage. (I'm basing this on my Pixel 3 XL, but I think this should be universal.)
Are all of your contacts entered directly into the phone's stock Contacts app? Do you know if they're associated with your Google Contacts account, or only the local Phone account? On your computer browser, go to contacts.google.com and see if all of your contacts are there. If they are, then the contacts are safe there. If not, then you presumably entered all of your contacts into the local Phone account -- those contacts don't get synced or backed up anywhere automatically, so in that case, DO NOT clear the Contacts Storage data until you've backed them up somewhere. Otherwise, you'll wipe out all of your contacts.