NFC Notes: 49ers, Giants, Lions

49ers

49ers HC Kyle Shanahan explained that everyone knows how much he likes Kirk Cousins, so the new five-year, $137.5 million extension they handed out to Jimmy Garoppolo shows what he thinks of him as a player.

“Yeah, of course, it was there,” Shanahan said, via Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com. “Everyone knows how I feel about Kirk. And for anybody who knows how I feel about Kirk, I think this shows how I feel about Jimmy, the fact that we ended up doing this. I’m not a guy who’s going to get excited and just go with the momentum, at all. I usually do the opposite, question it to make sure I’m absolutely confident, and not go with the momentum or the excitement.

“Talking about Kirk, understanding where he could be in the next year, for me to feel this way about Jimmy? It says a lot about Jimmy.

  • 49ers’ chief contract negotiator Paraag Marathe said “neither” the team or QB Jimmy Garoppolo wanted to use the franchise tag as part of contract negotiations: “We knew that was out there. But neither (side) wanted it to get to a point where that was a piece of the negotiation.” (Matt Barrows)

Giants

Veteran LB Mark Herzlich says he’s hoping to return to the Giants for the 2018 season.

I’m in no hurry to be going anywhere,” Herzlich said, via Dan Duggan of NJ.com. “So we’ll see how the next couple of months progress. If the Giants stay my home, which would be fantastic, then I feel like I’m in great hands. I’ve got great coaches and a great general manager and then obviously the Tisches and the Maras, whether I’m playing for the Giants or not, they’re always family. It’s a great place to be.

Lions

  • The Detroit Lions announced that they have hired former Alabama DL coach Bo Davis to the same position on Friday.
  • Alex Marvez reports that the Lions are retaining both of their special teams coaches — Joe Marciano and Devin Fitzsimmons.

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