The San Francisco 49ers no longer need to worry about the possible implications of placing the franchise tag on quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
On Tuesday, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported the Niners inked Garoppolo to a record-setting five-year, $137.5 million contract, making him the league’s highest-paid player ahead of Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Darlington (h/t Fourth and Nine’s Dylan DeSimone), San Francisco did not want to risk the kinds of problems the Washington Redskins encountered with their own quarterback, Kirk Cousins, after applying the franchise tag on him in back-to-back years:
Jeff Darlington, citing sources on ESPN, says the #49ers didn’t want to go down the road Washington did with Kirk Cousins.