Raheem Mostert, 49ers in ‘better place' since trade demand, Ian Rapoport says

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Two weeks ago, Raheem Mostert and his agent asked the 49ers for a trade, citing "unproductive talks" as it pertained to a new contract.

Mostert has no leverage in the matter and the 49ers are unlikely to trade him. The running back reportedly spoke with a top member of the organization to "clear the air" over the weekend, and  NFL Media's Ian Rapoport believes things between the two sides are improving.

 "It seems like they're in a lot better place now than they were whenever the original message delivered by his agent, Brett Tessler -- what was it? About two weeks ago, whenever," Rapoport said on KNBR. "On one hand, for Mostert, I get it. He clearly changed roles, clearly outperformed his contract. So, in his mind, he's a productive back and was productive in the team's most important games. He deserves to get paid.

"I also understand it from the team's standpoint. They literally just did a deal for him. It's hard enough for anyone to get paid two years out. Maybe, as a quarterback, you get it. As a running back, it's hard to even get paid once, let alone after an extension when you have two years left."

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Mostert, who began last season down on the depth chart, finished the year as the 49ers' top running back in the Super Bowl. Mostert wants to get paid and rightfully so. He and his agent are only asking that his pay be "in line" with that of teammate Tevin Coleman.

Coleman's $4.55 million base salary is nearly $2 million more than Mostert's $2.575 million, per OverTheCap. Mostert's salary, however, is not guaranteed, where Coleman had $2 million guaranteed in April.

While both Mostert and Coleman rushed 137 times in the regular season, Mostert led the team in yards (772) and touchdowns (eight). He also had twice as many carries and touches as Coleman from Week 13 onward. In the NFC Championship Game, Mostert rushed for a record 220 yards and four touchdowns in the 49ers' stomping of the Green Bay Packers.

Rapoport believes the talk Mostert had with the team paid dividends, and that the team would like to take care of him.

"I know that [Mostert] 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, something to better account for the kind of 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 sort of trade request is going to, at some point, be something in the past."

[RELATED: Mostert's trade demand shows costly price of success]

While the 49ers want to take care of Mostert, that might be more difficult than most think.

The 49ers currently have the eighth-highest salary cap number for running backs, and are trying to work out a lucrative extension for tight end George Kittle. The 49ers also have to keep in mind future planned extensions for Nick Bosa and Trent Williams when making any contract decisions that could have future ramifications.

Mostert and the 49ers will continue to work through their differences, but at least things appear to be trending in the right direction as training camp nears.

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