Kaepernick is coming up on a contract year, and it should present an interesting challenge for the 49ers.
Part of what made the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks so successful over the last few seasons was quarterback play. Colin Kaepernick and Russell Wilson both had an early impact and helped make a difference on two already talented rosters. More importantly, both Kaepernick and Wilson did so at a low price tag. With the rookie wage scale, both the 49ers and Seahawks were able to build dominant rosters around cheap, but effective, quarterbacks and make deep runs into the playoffs.
Now, the 49ers are going to have to pay up.
Kaepernick is entering his contract year, and San Francisco is in the early stages of working on an extension for the big, athletic signal-caller. According to CBS, the contract talks are off to a good start, but Kaepernick is going to command quite the pay raise.
Apparently, Kaepernick wants to be paid a similar deal to what the Cowboys gave Tony Romo and the Bears gave Jay Cutler. Both contracts were worth more than $100 million with over $50 million in guarantees. The price you pay for a franchise quarterbacks these days.
If the 49ers wait too long, Kaepernick could price himself out of that range, though. After all, he already has more playoff wins than Cutler and Romo combined in just two years as a starting quarterback. Both Romo and Cutler have been in the league for a while and haven't been able to match what Kaepernick has done in the postseason.
Of course, Kapernick is still young, and his 2013 season was somewhat inconsistent. He still finished with more than 3,000 passing yards and 25 total touchdowns, though. He's clearly trending upward in the NFL and has the rushing ability to add a different dynamic to the 49ers' offense. That's why San Francisco decided to stick with Kaepernick and trade Alex Smith.
Speaking of Smith, he is likely to have an effect on this contract as well. The Chiefs are interested in extending him, and Kaepernick will surely want a bigger contract than the guy he replaced in San Francisco.
Building a roster is about to become a bit more difficult for the 49ers. They have no choice but to pay Kaepernick what he's worth, and in the current quarterback market, that's at least $18 million per year and north of $50 million in guarantees. The good news for the 49ers is that Kaepernick is still very young. By the time he's done playing out his contract, he may be worth even more than he was at the start.