During the early hours of Super Bowl Sunday, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport broke the news that the San Francisco 49ers were nearing a long-term deal with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. The NFL insider wrote that negotiations had gained "significant momentum." The report ended speculation on whether the 49ers would be able to negotiate a multi-year contract with the exciting player or be forced to use the franchise tag to keep him in San Francisco for at least another year.
Rapoport joined KNBR on Monday morning to discuss the report.
"I think it's getting pretty close to getting done," Rapoport said on the "Murph & Mac" show. "You know, barring some sort of negotiating snag, I would expect this in a couple of days; pretty close. I don't think they're at a point where they've reached an agreement, but it sounds like it's getting there. A multi-year deal, lucrative, big money, top quarterback money. I'm not sure it's going to be Derek Carr (type money), but I would imagine it's going to be right around there.
"From what it sounds like too – negotiations are hard – this does not seem like it was a hard one. And I think part of that is because everybody wants the same thing in this case."
While Rapoport believes Garoppolo will be one of the NFL's highest-paid quarterbacks once the deal is complete, he doesn't think the 49ers will put themselves in a bad situation financially.
"That is my understanding," Rapoport responded when asked if Garoppolo would be a top-paid quarterback. "Now, the Niners do very smart deals, so I'm sure they'll protect themselves. They can do a lot of things cash flow-wise, guarantee-wise, also giving him the sort of high-end average per year that he would want. So I'm sure it's going to be a smartly structured deal because they all are in San Francisco.
"It's also smart because as good as he was, he's only going to be even better. So, he's one of those players – like, it's not a fluke. He's just great, and lock him up as early as you can. That's my thought."
You can listen to the entire interview with Rapoport below.