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Answers to your Jimmy Garoppolo questions

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So once new 49er Jimmy Garoppolo finishes his physical and signs his contract, the questions will be asked. When will Garoppolo be able to start?

That will depend on three factors. First, how quickly can he learn the Kyle Shanahan offensive system. Secondly, how comfortable will coaches be inserting him if the offensive line can’t protect him. With an injured line in Philly, C.J. Beathard was pressured on 60 percent of his passes, the most of any game in the league. Third, if Beathard begins to play well at the end of the season, that could delay Garoppolo from getting on the field.

Did the team sign him to a new deal? There probably wasn’t enough time to get Garoppolo signed to a new contract before the trade was consummated. It means negotiations are likely to ensue immediately for Garoppolo. The 49ers might have as much as $117 million of cap space next year. Nevertheless, the team will probably want to base much of Garoppolo’s deal on play-time incentives. That’s likely to be the hardest negotiating point.

One would expect Garoppolo to sign a deal that could pay him between $18 million and $20 million a year.

So will this end the pursuit of a quarterback with the 49ers first pick? Not necessarily, particularly if Beathard and Garoppolo fail to show promise in the final eight games.

But according to Tom Curran, who covers the Patriots for NBCSBoston, Garoppolo has the makings for a great quarterback.

“Physically, he’s very nimble for a guy who’s about 6-2, 6-3, 215,” Curran said on NBCSBay Area. “He has as fast a release, I’m not exaggerating, of anybody in the NFL. It’s almost surrealesque with the speed with which it comes out.”

The deal for Garoppolo certainly takes pressure off the team to sign or draft a quarterback and allows the 49ers to concentrate on the many other areas of need that they have.