The San Francisco 49ers and quarterback Brock Purdy are now eligible to discuss a long-term contract extension for the first time in his career after their season ended. Though talks haven’t officially started, general manager John Lynch, coach Kyle Shanahan, and Purdy have all expressed a desire to come to an agreement soon.
“I think what we know about Brock is that he’s our guy,” Lynch said Wednesday. “We have interest in Brock being around here for a long, long time. He’s done so much for our organization; he’s won big games and had a little tougher task as we all did this year with some of the things that happened throughout the course of the year.
We just never could string games where we were all together and through that, he continued to lead, he continued to play at a high level, so we have every interest in him being around.
“We’ll have some time here in the coming weeks to sit together and put our whole plan together. That’s obviously a priority, that position, and we’ll give it that attention.”
“I plan on being with Brock here the whole time I’m here. Brock’s been a stud. He’s a guy I’ve got a lot of confidence in just as a human, but it starts with what he’s done on the field these last two and a half years. We’re capable of winning the Super Bowl with him. He just almost did, and I know he’s capable of getting the Niners a Super Bowl in the future,” said Shanahan about Purdy.
Purdy, selected as the last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, played under one of the cheapest contracts in the league, earning an average of $934,253 per year on a four-year rookie deal. He has one year left on this contract, which will count $1.119 million against the salary cap in 2025.
That number will likely rise this offseason, as the Niners are ready to pay him closer to the top quarterbacks in the league, though it’s still unclear how much they are willing to offer. The highest-paid quarterback in terms of average annual value right now is Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys, at $60 million per year.
Purdy stated on Monday, “I’m not really sure” if topping Prescott’s contract is important to him, but he made it clear he wants to get the deal done quickly so he can be ready when the Niners start their organized team activities in April.
“More than anything for me, I want to be able to handle business the right way and do it in a respectable manner and get back to my team as fast as I can to get going,” Purdy said. “That’s my mindset, my focus. And obviously, I want to help the team across the board with all the other guys who need to get their deals done, but everybody will handle it the right way and how they need to.”
In the 2023 season, Purdy earned Pro Bowl honors and finished fourth in MVP voting. However, his performance in 2024 declined as injuries affected his supporting players.
Despite missing key players like running back Christian McCaffrey and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, and playing without offensive tackle Trent Williams, tight end George Kittle, and receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. for stretches, Purdy finished seventh in the NFL in QBR (68.0), 10th in passing yards (3,864), and third in yards per attempt (8.5) during his 15 games.
Purdy did struggle in some bad weather games and couldn’t lead fourth-quarter comebacks in some close games as the Niners finished 6-11. His 1.7 touchdowns per interception were tied for 23rd in the NFL, a significant drop from his 2.8 in 2023.
Despite these struggles, Shanahan’s confidence in Purdy has grown, particularly as Purdy assumed a larger leadership role and kept fighting despite the difficult circumstances.
“Brock is the leader of our team,” Shanahan said. “I’ve loved these three years with Brock. I plan on being with Brock here the whole time I’m here. Brock’s been a stud. He’s a guy I’ve got a lot of confidence in just as a human, but it starts with what he’s done on the field these last two and a half years.
We’re capable of winning the Super Bowl with him. He just almost did, and I know he’s capable of getting the Niners a Super Bowl in the future.”
Lynch and Shanahan have been going through exit meetings and player evaluations recently, which is why contract talks with Purdy have yet to begin in full. While the 49ers have a history of allowing contract talks to drag into August or even September, as seen with players like Aiyuk and Williams last offseason, the situation with the quarterback is expected to be different.
Purdy’s extension will be a major increase in pay, and it will affect the team’s ability to spend on other players or add to their roster. The 49ers would benefit from finalizing the deal quickly, as other quarterbacks may renegotiate their contracts, changing the market. Additionally, the team would prefer not to miss any spring or training camp time without their starting quarterback.
How quickly a deal might get done is unclear, but Shanahan and Lynch have experience negotiating major quarterback contracts. In 2018, they signed Jimmy Garoppolo to a five-year, $137.5 million deal on February 8.
“I want to be in San Francisco and play my football career here,” Purdy said. “I love it here and I want to do whatever it takes to be here. … I’m not really sure what it all is going to look like or entail, but I know that I’m the guy for this organization and that I can do what it takes to help lead us where we want to go.”
