Why 49ers’ contract talks with Jimmy Garoppolo are taking so long

Argument from the Jimmy Garoppolo Camp

The 49ers had one win in 2017 before Jimmy Garoppolo took over starting duties. They’re undefeated since.

If there’s a stronger argument out there, I’d like to hear it. Garoppolo proved to be a difference maker for San Francisco. Pair that with the limited knowledge he had of head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense, and it’s pretty easy to see why his projected ceiling is so high in 2018.

Garoppolo’s agent, Don Yee, isn’t going to ask for the kind of money quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers or Kirk Cousins are going to get. Rather, Joel Corry suggested it’s going to be in the neighborhood of Oakland Raiders’ QB Derek Carr’s five-year, $125 million deal.

The reason? Any contract signed now is going to be outdated within a year. Perhaps in less time. And if Garoppolo signs a team-friendly deal, market-wise, that contract will be obsolete by the end of 2018.

Especially coming from a team boasting the league’s most salary cap space this offseason.

Live Feed

Just Blog Baby

Using the ESPN Report on Jimmy Garoppolo, Bill Belichick and the Patriots as Evidence

There’s another viewpoint to consider here.

Seth Wickersham’s ESPN report on the apparent dysfunction within the New England Patriots, of which Garoppolo was a key figure, sheds some light on what might happen between Garoppolo and the 49ers this offseason.

Here’s the kicker:

"The Patriots repeatedly offered Garoppolo four-year contract extensions, in the $17 million to $18 million range annually that would go higher if and when he succeeded [Tom] Brady. Garoppolo and Yee rejected the offers out of hand, for reasons that remain unclear, and the Patriots knew they couldn’t make any promises to Garoppolo about the timing of a transition at quarterback without it getting back to Brady."

Yee, who also represents Brady, surely didn’t need to play into head coach Bill Belichick’s hopes of someday replacing the future Hall of Famer with Garoppolo. Not from a financial standpoint anyway, especially when the latter was in such high demand last offseason.

Still, that’s a tremendously high amount of money for a backup, even a starter with limited experience.

At the same time, Brady isn’t making top-tier quarterback money, even though he’s the best signal-caller in the game, and with little argument. I’ve also read Yee negotiated Brady’s deal this way to give the Patriots flexibility in signing and retaining other players to help the team win (forgive me, as I forget where I read that, but I assure you I did).

Perhaps Yee is willing to do the same with San Francisco, but the Niners’ current cap space doesn’t present that as an issue.

So why not ask for the roof?