Coming off a hugely disappointing 2024 season, the San Francisco 49ers have a monumental decision to make regarding the future of the quarterback position.
For the first three years of his career, former seventh-round pick Brock Purdy has been a cheat code. He’s been a Pro Bowl-level QB while getting paid $1 million or less every year, allowing the 49ers to stack the roster at other positions.
Though Purdy is still under team control for one more season, he’s eligible for an extension heading into 2025. If the 49ers choose not to give it to him, they’ll create doubt about his future with the team, which would be an unwelcome distraction.
If Purdy is going to get an extension, there’s reason to debate how much he’s proven himself to be worth. The stats, especially from the 2023 season, make him look like a top-five QB in the sport, but he’s been fortunate to have great talent and play-calling at his disposal.
On Friday, ESPN’s Dan Graziano predicted that Purdy would land a four-year, $196 million extension, including $112 million guaranteed, which would make him the 10th-highest-paid quarterback in terms of average annual value.
“The threat of the franchise tag certainly gives the 49ers some leverage, and if Purdy is not determined to play hardball and max out his contract in the upper-$50-million-per-year range, there’s a deal to be made here,” Graziano wrote.
“Some of the people I talked to expect that the framework would likely build out from the contract Daniel Jones signed with the Giants two years ago (four years, $160 million with $81 million guaranteed). But it would obviously be adjusted upward for inflation and based on superior performance.”
If and when Purdy gets his extension, he’ll enter a new phase of his young career. He’ll no longer be defying expectations by playing great football – great football will be the only expectation.
It will be intriguing to see how quickly the saga unfolds, too, because the sooner the 49ers know Purdy’s status, the sooner they can get to work on building out the rest of their 2025 roster.
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