Matt Maiocco of the Press Democrat says that Frank Gore's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, is seeking the richest contract in the NFL for his client.
From Matt Maiocco's blog:
As I reported a couple days ago, Gore is scheduled to earn $435,000 in base pay this season. If backup running back Maurice Hicks signs his one-year tender as a restricted free agent, the 49ers will pay him $850,000. So unless Gore and the 49ers reach a deal for the coming season, Hicks could be making nearly twice as much as Gore.
I've been told that Gore's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, has informed the 49ers that he's not signing a deal for anything less than the richest contract in the league. (Rosenhaus has not returned repeated phone calls seeking comment.)
The 49ers need to pay Gore a nice sum of money, but they also can't put themselves in a position where a big contract would come back to haunt them. As much as everyone likes Frank Gore, you also have to consider that last season was the first time since his senior year of high school that he played an entire season without being limited by injuries.
As Maiocco has previously stated, even without a new contract, the 49ers can secure Gore for the next three seasons. Gore is under contract for the upcoming season, Gore will be a restricted free agent in 2008 and the 49ers can hold on to him with a high tender and in 2009, the team can franchise Gore. In 2008 and 2009, the team would receive draft picks as compensation should they lose Gore to another team.
Matt Maiocco's blog can be found here:
http://49ers.pressdemocrat.com/