Behind the scenes of the highly-anticipated Super Bowl LII, Ian Rapoport reported on Sunday morning that the 49ers made serious strides towards signing Jimmy Garoppolo, formerly of the AFC Champion New England Patriots, to a long-term contract extension that would put the young quarterback “in the upper echelon of NFL QBs.”
Rapoport wrote that “long-term contract extension negotiations between Garoppolo and the 49ers have gained significant momentum, and a deal could get done in the near future, sources informed of the situation said.”
When the 49ers traded for the 26-year-old last October, they were in desperate need of a starting quarterback. When Brian Hoyer and C.J. Beathard didn’t present the answer, Garoppolo showed himself to be the solution by leading the 49ers to an incredible five-game winning streak at the end of the regular season.
Since then, there has been desire from the 49ers to sign Garoppolo to a long-term contact. Most recently, general manager John Lynch said during the Senior Bowl on January 27 that “we believe we’ve found the right guy.”
However, signing a special talent, such as Garoppolo, will undoubtedly cost the 49ers a large chunk of their payroll, but the team is well-equipped to do so with roughly $117 million of cap space.
“There is work to be done over the next several days,” Rapoport wrote. “But sources said the optimism coming from the organization has been warranted.”
