The San Francisco 49ers have re-signed fourth of their own free agents, inking Mark Nzeocha to a one-year contract, and Cassius Marsh, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Daniel Kilgore to multi-year extensions. Garoppolo was the most important move of the offseason, but Kilgore will likely be his starting center, and Marsh has a chance to be an impact player in the pass rush rotation.
The 49ers still have a host of free agents remaining, some more notable than others. And it sounds like the team might have more players in mind for extensions.
Following last Friday’s press conference for Garoppolo’s contract, chief negotiator Paraag Marathe spoke with Tim Kawakami and some other reporters. He talked about the talks with Garoppolo and agent Don Yee, but he also offered an intriguing answer when asked the 49ers are close to signing any other of their own players to extensions.
“We’re looking at some of our own guys … I don’t know the timing of it, though. But certainly there’s a handful we’d like to do before it starts.”
Since that press conference, the 49ers have signed Kilgore to his extension. I suppose one extension is a handful for one with small hands, but let’s presume this involves slightly bigger hands.
The most notable 49ers set to hit free agency are safety Eric Reid and running back Carlos Hyde. Tank Carradine is an under-the-radar guy I could see getting an extension. Asa Jackson is another one that I could see signing a one- or two-year deal following a season in which he went on injured reserve after Week 5. Logan Paulsen is a depth guy, but I think we see the team look elsewhere.
My guess is Carlos Hyde and the 49ers will wait and see what the market has to say before doing a deal. It is possible something similar happens with Eric Reid. But who do you think could be in line to get something done before the new league year starts next month?