© Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The Raheem Mostert trade request was the surprise news of the 49ers’ summer. The gist of it is simple: Mostert rightfully believes he deserves more than he’s scheduled to make, while the 49ers look at him as being in the second year of a recently-signed three-year deal, and being able to replace him if needed. He’s also 28 and plays a devalued position ahead of a 2020 summer scheduled to see dozens of elite running backs hit the market.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Monday that Mostert had a discussion to “clear the air” with a high-ranking member of the 49ers’ front office. On Tuesday he joined Papa and Lund to explain where the situation stands, saying he understands the perspectives of both sides.
“It seems like they’re in a lot better place now than they were whenever the original message delivered by his agent Brett Tessler was about two weeks ago,” Rapoport said. “… It seems like where they’re at now is Raheem had a really good conversation with one of the higher ups of the 49ers to kind of clear the air and get on the same page.”
Rapoport explained why he has optimism for the situation.
“I know that he is someone they want to take care of and are willing to take care of in some form or fashion,” Rapoport said. “I don’t know if they’re going to be able to do some sort of additional compensation, maybe it’s incentives or something to better account for the production that they believe he is going to have. But this is a really smart organization, they usually do the right thing. I would imagine they’re going to be able to work something out. And this trade request is at some point going to be something in the past.”