NINERS SIGN QB GAROPPOLO TO RECORD DEAL

San Francisco makes quarterback league’s highest-paid player.

The San Francisco 49ers locked up Jimmy Garoppolo Thursday with a long-term deal.

The NFL Network reported the five-year contract, and a news conference is being planned for today. According to the network, Garoppolo’s new contract is worth as much as $137.5 million. That averages $27.5 million a year, making it the richest in NFL history.

To put that in perspective, Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford’s deal — which he signed in August and which previously had been the NFL’s biggest — averages $27 million a year. Garoppolo’s former teammate, Tom Brady, has a salary that averages $20.5 million a year. Garoppolo, a former second-round draft pick out of Eastern Illinois, earned approximately $3.5 million total in his first four years in the league.

The 49ers are a franchise known for quarterbacks. Three — Y.A. Tittle, Joe Montana and Steve Young — are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

But none created the early buzz Garoppolo generated.

After trading a second-round pick to New England for him Oct. 30, the 49ers gave the 26-yearold passer his first start Dec. 3 in his hometown of Chicago. Garoppolo completed 70 percent of his passes and led the team on a last-minute drive that ended with a winning field goal.

His next four starts also ended in victories. Coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch suspected they had a franchise quarterback when they traded for him in October; they were certain of it when the season ended in December with wins over the Tennessee Titans, Jacksonville Jaguars and Los Angeles Rams, all playoff teams.

San Francisco could have placed the franchise tag, a one-year deal worth about $23.5 million, on Garoppolo.

The new deal exceeds that on a per-year basis but may not be tops in the league for long. Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins is poised to hit free agency next month while other established quarterbacks such as Atlanta’s Matt Ryan and Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers are poised for new contracts as well.

The 49ers were expected to have more than $100 million in salary-cap space for 2018 and it will be interesting to see how Garoppolo’s deal is structured. ESPN reported it was worth $90 million in the first three years, suggesting it was front-loaded to take advantage of the team’s salary-cap cushion.

Panthers: Carolina defensive end Julius Peppers had surgery on his right shoulder.

Carolina’s team website confirmed the surgery Thursday afternoon, but a team spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

A source told the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer that Peppers’ surgery was a labrum repair.

Peppers, 37, returned to Charlotte in 2017 on a oneyear deal and tied for the team lead in sacks with 11.

Colts: Funeral services were set for Indianapolis linebacker Edwin Jackson, who was killed with his Uber driver when authorities say a drunken driver living illegally in the U.S. struck them along a highway.

Jackson’s funeral will be Monday at Big Bethel AME Church in his hometown of Atlanta. The 26-year-old Jackson’s family said the Colts and the NFL “have lost a young and rising star — one who truly loved the game of football, and played it with a passion.”

Jackson and 54-year-old-old Jeffrey Monroe of Avon, Indiana, were killed Sunday morning.