49ers quarterback Brock Purdy will be eligible for an extension at season’s end, and a report from last month indicated that San Francisco wants to hammer out a new deal for its starting signal-caller this offseason. Earlier this week, Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports reported that the team could wait on a Purdy extension – perhaps with an eye towards franchise-tagging him in 2026 if need be – but Robinson confirms the Niners would prefer to strike a multiyear accord in the coming months.
[RELATED: Purdy’s Elbow Injury Not Long-Term Concern]
After all, the QB market continues to boom, even for players below the top tier of the position. Although Purdy has regressed from his excellent 2023 performance and has been more inconsistent in 2024 – while also turning the ball over 15 times – players like Jordan Love and Trevor Lawrence arguably had not proven as much as Purdy when they entered their own negotiations, which culminated in $55MM/year contracts for the former first-rounders.
It therefore stands to reason that Purdy could command at least that much in his impending talks with the 49ers, and according to Robinson, the success of the contract discussions will depend on how ambitious Purdy’s camp plans to be. If 2022’s Mr. Irrelevant shoots for the top of the market – in other words, if he aims for Dak Prescott’s record-smashing $60MM AAV or Joe Burrow’s $146.51MM in full guarantees – then San Francisco could balk (even though Purdy has had more postseason success than Prescott, the Cowboys’ passer had unique leverage due to his prior contractual dealings with Dallas).
On the other hand, if Purdy is more “reasonable” in his demands and would be willing to accept a deal akin to Love’s (four years, $210MM, with $100MM in fully guaranteed money), the Niners may be willing to play ball. Since Purdy, as a seventh-round pick, has made less than $3MM over his first three years in the league, even a payout on Love’s level would doubtlessly be quite tempting.
That said, the Iowa State product continues to be a QBR darling, as he presently ranks seventh in the metric after leading the league in that regard, along with “traditional” quarterback rating, in 2023. He ranks 13th in quarterback rating among regular starters in 2024 (coincidentally, one spot behind Love). This is despite the fact that invaluable skill-position players Brandon Aiyuk and Christian McCaffrey have played a combined 11 games, with future Hall of Fame left tackle Trent Williams also missing significant time.
Plus, Purdy has compensated for his downturn in passing output with an improvement in his efforts as a runner, as he has carried the ball 66 times for 323 yards (4.9 yards per carry) and five scores. He is not a perfect player, and he may need more talent surrounding him than a truly elite passer might, but when it comes to quarterbacks, clubs are understandably reluctant to pass on a bird in the hand, no matter the cost. The Niners’ competitive window still appears to be wide open, and unlike the Cowboys during their first round of extension talks with Prescott, they may want to lock down their QB1 before the market continues to soar.
If he goes for Prescott/Burrow $$, he’s crazy. The thing the 49ers have is a system that he can succeed in. I think his continued success in other systems (not designed by Kyle Shanahan), would be iffy at best. If he can get anything in the Love/Trevor range, he should grab it and be thankful.
He should, I agree, but I can also understand why he would want to make more than a significantly worse QB like Lawrence.
He may be successful in their system, but it still takes talent to execute. He’s done it without the pieces around him and is still better than half the QBs out there. One can argue Mahomes is successful due to as a system as well, and if you look at Prescott, why couldn’t he command those dollars as well? With that said, $45-50M is my estimate.
Yep, I agree with all of that. Maybe he gets a 5th year. Burrow got 5/$275M. Maybe Purdy gets something like 5/$230-240M.
Niners’ fans are delusional thinking Purdy’s going to take less than $55M per year when Dak got more for less production. It sounds nice, but it’s unrealistic when agents and other players are likely telling him to maximize that contract when he played lights out for peanuts the past couple of years.
Production-wise, Dak’s definitely done more individually, but Purdy’s gotten further. Most people would say that that counts more, but it’s also a function of the team over the player.
I do agree with you, though, Sherminator, with that aside. Purdy’s success is partially a function of the system and how he fits in it, but there is a certain callousness that teams have in evaluating their players within a system that can be detrimental. It would be a mistake to evaluate that player in a vacuum if your team does run one of those systems, and the player has been really, really good in it. The question shouldn’t necessarily be “Is Brock Purdy worth $55 million?”; rather, it should be “Is Brock Purdy worth $55 million to us?”
If San Francisco lets him go, he’ll probably end up with something around that number from someone else. No, he doesn’t have Lawrence’s arm, Prescott’s numbers, or Watson’s mobility, but someone is going to offer Purdy a competitive deal because he has proven himself in other ways that give a team what it may not have had before at its most important position. I mean, this is the going rate for quarterbacks, and Purdy’s been to a championship. Whether it was the team or Purdy who played a bigger role in reaching the Super Bowl (which those other guys with bigger contracts have not done), he still led them there. He doesn’t have injury concerns, he’s young, and he’s improved and taken a larger responsibility in the offense. As you said, there’s no way that Purdy is taking a significantly below market deal, even if he doesn’t exceed the top of it. It’s unfathomable to see him out of the top six or so, much less the top ten.
So, with all that said, San Fran may be right that Purdy wouldn’t be as good a quarterback on another team, in another system. But there’s no guarantee that they’ll find someone as good for their system, either. That’s what it comes down to. A similar thing happened when Garappolo went down and the offense sputtered (or what happened when they had no decent quarterback in the playoffs); having a repeat of that could be totally avoided by signing the player who has l, frankly, earned that spot (and on a cheap contract, at that). I know that they have a few big veteran deals right now, but trading Purdy for a few years of Trent Williams or Brandon Aiyuk doesn’t seem worth it in the long run.
I don’t think most of the guys in the league care about their future success. If someone offered you a contract that would guarantee you 100 million dollars i dont think theres any way you turn that down regardless of who’s writing the check or who you’re going to play for or how many games you’ll win. Now maybe he does care but your window to play in the nfl is not going to be long and if someone is willing to give you a happy lifetimes amount of money you gotta jump.
The thing is, though, that you wouldn’t be turning down $100 million cold turkey. You’d be picking between $100 million and $80 million and a ring. These players don’t usually take base level deals in their effective years for competitive purposes; usually the deal is still somewhat competitive.
Guys turn down $100M guaranteed all the time. Tua negotiated until he got that number up to something like $137M.
I think its his agents going for that kind of $$$. In these situations, you let your agents try to get you as much money as you can.
5 years at 225 mill with 100 mill guaranteed is reasonable for Purdy.
45 mill per year puts him just outside the top 10 but gains an extra year of security
I say a Geno Smith deal. 3 yrs 75 Mill sounds right.
Super Bowl appearance
Playoff wins
Probably some 49ers QB records in his first four years he’s either tied or broken somewhere in there
He’s gonna cost more than 25 mill a year. Geno smith was a starter for 1 year when he signed that deal. At the age of 32 and the contract covered his 33, 34, 35 age seasons.
Jimmy G had a SB appearance, playoff wins and got 3 years 72 mill from the raiders. Yes he had the injury concern but I think the bigger concern is SF. QBs tend to do well in that system. They can plug and play. If I was SF I’d be comfortable at 3 years 75 mill. Tops 3 years 90 mil.
Garapollo got 3 years 72 mill at age 32 coming off his tenure with the 49ers missing nearly 2 seasons worth of games (31).
I mentioned the injury history. I don’t think that was the issue. The issue is SF. Kyle Shanahan has a great plug in play system. Even Josh Dobbs is looking g great today against AZ. Pay him too?
Jimmy G wasn’t very good his last few years with the 49ers. They won in spite of him.
His last year in SF. He threw for 2500 yds. 16 Touchdowns to 4 ints. If that’s not very good to you I want to know what is.
I think 50 percent of the qbs on a roster right now could have made a super bowl with this team. Jimmy came in and proved that it’s the easiest offense in the league for a qb.
Exactly. Not a knock on Purdy but it’s a plug in play offense. Even Dobbs looks good today.
He’s also been a bargain for the past three years (he didn’t get anything near first-round money), so expect a little make-up payment in that next contract.
Oh I agree but not too 10
$ IMO. He’s not a top 10 QB. I like the kid. I like his story but I don’t see him performing like he did the last two season if he was in Carolina or NYG. Just calling it like I see it.
He’s getting more than Geno without a doubt, that contract is currently an abnormality. Geno is currently the 19th highest paid QB on a AAV basis with Baker at $33.33mm ahead of him and Minshew at $12.5mm behind him. 25-35 is going to be the range for the reclamation projects or the guys getting a pillow contract after bouncing around for a few years (like Baker and Geno).
Right now the starting point for a relatively proven starting QB is $40mm (Daniel Jones’ contract is going to be the minimum comp every starter level QB is going to use). Considering Purdy was basically making the bare minimum he could possibly make, I doubt he’s going to be agreeing to a substantial hometown discount…not like he has NIL money or a high rookie wage scale to fall back on.
Just as the Vikings would be stupid to let Darnold walk away for free at this point, the Niners would be just as stupid to let Purdy walk. Teams spend years and go through multiple coaches and front offices looking for a franchise QB…you’re really going to let Purdy walk on the slim chance you find one in the draft or hit on a successful reclamation project just so you can save some money? By the time they find their next guy their window will already be closed. It is much easier to find “good enough” players to surround a franchise QB than it is to find a “good enough” QB. If the latter was easy enough to do, more teams would be doing it rather than pay a QB $50mm.
I think he’ll get at least as much as Kirk Cousins did, I think he’s better than that. I also think teams might be a little wary about overpaying because of the deals like Cousins got in Atlanta in 2024.There’s not going to be a lot of teams solving their quarterback problem in 2025, so several teams would go after him & drive up the price if he became available in 2026.
Another team that should be angling for Darnold.
I love brock purdy and I hope they get him signed for as long as they can but anyone who thinks he deserves 50-60 mil a year is insane. Yea he’s been good in the playoffs because he got handed probably the most stacked team in the league. Jimmy garapollo also has more playoff wins than those guys you named and he’s been a backup for like half his career. Maybe sign a 1 or 2 year deal if he’s being a dick in negotiations as like a trial or whatever but I think there’s quite a few other guys who can come in and operate this offense to close to the same level for wayyyyyy less than 60 mil.
Given the market at the position, I think it’s hard to argue he shouldn’t be paid at least 50m/yr. Deshaun Watson, Kirk Cousins and Kyler Murray were all QBs that were paid 45m-46m a year in ’24. I think it’s going to be pretty tough to say that Purdy doesn’t deserve to be paid more than them. That wouldn’t be him being a “d*** in negotiations”, either, as you put it; that’s how his agent is going to evaluate the market.
You can make the argument he is a system QB that was helped by the talent around him, and it’s probably true, but he still has to execute within that setup. Purdy has done that exceptionally well. Let me ask you this: do you think Daniel Jones could operate at close to the same level? If it is all system and team, you should be comfortable with Jones.
I will say this, however- I think the 49ers brass will view it exactly the same way you do. They have a history of not wanting to pay market prices. That’s why I don’t think a deal gets done, and they go the Cousins route with Purdy on the tags. That’ll carry them through what likely is the end of their window, and then they’ll rebuild after Purdy walks.
I don’t think Sam Darnold back to the Niners sounds crazy at all, I think he’s a better QB than Purdy
Swap QBs and Purdy would be an MVP candidate with the Vikings.
He just had another arm injury scare. He is not taking the field without a new deal.
Are they going to try to draft his replacement? After all, they did so well with Trey Lance. Might not want to press your luck and pay the guy.
They don’t actually have to do anything with Purdy yet, but if they keep waiting it’ll get more expensive. I think Darnold will get re-signed before free agency. They would be foolish to let him walk, and risk McCarthy getting hurt again, and then suddenly they have to hope Daniel Jones is the same kind of instant success in their system.
Use the franchise tag to the max, look for a replacement in the draft over the next two years, and then either work out a long term deal or let him walk.
He’s under contract let him play it out who cares. Basically anyone can step into the 49ers and have success. I watched Purdy play a few times he really isn’t that good and he makes a lot of mistakes. Actually I would be looking to trade him to some sucker team like maybe the Jets and hire someone else. Maybe bring in Rodgers for a couple years and draft a QB.
He was observed without a running back. Finally. And I think the brass see that he is just a fearless qb. And you don’t pay for pocket fearlessness alone. He can’t win with this set up. Can you win paying him. Tough questions.
Is Purdy worth top of the market money the answer is no. But at the same time San Francisco should pay him above what he’s worth roughly $50 million a year in my opinion because of what he’s done in his three seasons playing for less than a million dollars. Not sure the exact number but I heard somewhere he made like $800k this year. Not the teams problem he was the last pick in the draft.