San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is scheduled to become a free agent in 2018. A report by NFL insider Ian Rapoport on Monday morning stated that the 49ers would prefer to agree on a long-term contract rather than use the franchise tag.
On Monday, head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked whether or not he anticipated a new contract getting done before the end of the season.
"Yeah, I would not be anticipating that," he answered.
While Garoppolo is playing under the final year of his rookie contract, Shanahan and his quarterback are focused on the remainder of the season and not what might take place during the offseason.
"For me, personally, [Garoppolo's contract status] doesn't impact anything," Shanahan said. "That's what I was trying to explain -- I thought was so neat about the situation -- that I didn't feel, because of that option, that we had to see something here or there, we had to do all this stuff. It's been able for us to try to do things the right way, put him in when we felt he was ready, not putting the pressure on him to where he has to do all this to show something.
"Obviously, we're very encouraged with how these two games have been, and we'll see what happens here in the offseason when we get together and can assess everything. I definitely don't think that's something he's thinking about at this point and it's definitely not something that I'm thinking about either."
Garoppolo has passed for 627 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions during his two starts, both of which were wins. His passing yards total in those games are the most by a 49ers quarterback in his first two starts since the merger in 1970.
Garoppolo saw more pressure against the Texans than he did the week before against the Chicago Bears. Against Chicago, Garoppolo was under pressure on just nine of his 40 dropbacks. Against Houston, he was under pressure during 16 of his 36 dropbacks.
"I think we protected him very well versus Chicago," Shanahan said. "Didn't get as many blitz looks. It just worked out to be a very clean game. This game (against the Houston Texans) was a lot different. We kind of had an idea of that going into it. We definitely were anticipating it to be more like that. It's the first time we've had Jimmy where he's been under duress like that and I thought he handled it very well."
Garoppolo, who was acquired by the 49ers via a trade with the New England Patriots on October 30, has yet to lose a game he has started. In addition to his two victories this season with the 49ers, Garoppolo won both his starts with the Patriots at the beginning of the 2016 season.
The 49ers will use this week to prepare for the Tennessee Titans, who will visit Levi's Stadium on Sunday. San Francisco's first full practice of the week will take place on Wednesday.
