Colin Kaepernick contract negotiations expected to start back up this week

Moderately sized news, y'all! Matt Barrows is reporting the San Francisco 49ers are expected to rekindle talks with Colin Kaepernick's representatives. Barrows stated that his source said the two sides will be meeting face-to-face in Santa Clara. Bill Williamson tweeted that he was able to confirm the report. Last week, Kap was asked about contract negotiations and he simply said he would leave it to his agents so he could just focus on football.

This news comes following two pertinent pieces of information. The first is of course the Carlos Rogers cap money clearing on Monday. The official removal of his $6.6 million in cap space gets the 49ers up to more than $7.7 million in cap space. A sizable chunk of that will be held on to in case any notable injuries happen, but it also opens the door for some extensions.

The other piece of news was the report that the investigation of the "suspicious incident" in Miami could wrap up by the end June. I mentioned then that at some point we'd hopefully hear more information about contract talks. And so today, the other shoe would appear to drop. The 49ers and Kap's team had reportedly tabled negotiations out of respect for the investigation, but I have to think we're reaching a point where both sides realize this will be in our rear view mirror.

According to Barrows, this will reportedly be the first face-to-face talks since the two sides met at an Indianapolis steakhouse during the NFL Combine. There have been reports those first talks got things going, and that subsequently (before Miami) things were getting a bit more specific. These new face-to-face talks will hopefully allow things to progress at a quicker pace.

Negotiations via email and phone can advance things, but talking face-to-face can allow for so much more to be accomplished. I've noticed this in my work here at SB Nation. Prior to relocating back to Washington, D.C., I worked from home in San Francisco. We were able to get plenty done, but moving to DC created a lot more opportunities to get things done. Aside from just being able to walk over to somebody's desk, you can see visual cues that can help guide a discussion.

Of course, visual cues also mean you need to bring your poker face. If you let a little emotion slip with a grimace or a smile, you can show your hand before you want to. The face-to-face meetings add another dimension to the negotiations. We'll see if it results in a deal sooner rather than later.