San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan said Wednesday that the 49ers are comfortable using their franchise tag on Garoppolo next season, Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. "He does not have to play (this season)," Shanahan said. "It's not that we're coming to this deadline and we've got to decide our future, ours and his, for both sides. We've got six games left and we're going to have next year, also. I know you have to franchise a quarterback to keep him, but quarterbacks are expensive. And that is not that big of a deal to us."
Shanahan's comments support the notion that the 49ers view Garoppolo as a long-term solution at quarterback, despite the 26-year-old having yet to take a snap with his new team, who acquired him Oct. 30 for a 2018 second-round pick. C.J. Beathard will retain starting duties Sunday against the Seahawks, but it's expected that Garoppolo will make his debut at some point down the stretch as the team looks to get a clearer evaluation of him heading into the offseason. The one-year tag -- which would pay Garoppolo around $25 million next season -- would be a hefty investment for a player with just two career NFL starts to his name.