For the first two years of his career, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy was the best bargain in the NFL. After the 49ers made him the last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Purdy has made less than $1 million per year to start his professional football career, all while leading the 49ers to two NFC Championship Games and one trip to the Super Bowl.
With Purdy set to finish the second-to-last year of his rookie deal, the 49ers are reportedly planning to sign quarterback Purdy to a contract extension this offseason, and believe he is their long-term quarterback, per Dianna Russini of The Athletic.
At the moment, quarterbacks are receiving extensions worth more than $50 million per year for their second contracts. Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was the most recent passer to sign, receiving a deal of $60 million per year. Teammate and 49ers tight end George Kittle is all for Purdy signing a great extension this offseason.
“I think Brock has done nothing but play at a very, very high level,” Kittle said, via NBC Sports Bay Area. “The nice thing about contracts is when you play at a high level, you can compare yourself to other people in the league and when other guys are getting paid $50-60 million, and you’re a better quarterback than they are, it’s hard not to get that same amount of money.”
The 49ers have been generous when it comes to paying their players, giving multiple players like Kittle, Kyle Juszczyk, Christian McCaffrey, and Nick Bosa contracts that made them either the highest-paid or one of the top-three highest-paid players at their position. Part of the reason they were able to do that was because they had Purdy playing on a rookie deal, which gave them the cap-flexibility to retain many star players.
If the 49ers do sign Purdy to a massive extension upwards of $50 million per year, it might be hard for the team to keep some of their high-end talent, but Kittle is confident that the 49ers will find a way to make the contract work for the rest of the team as well.
“I don’t know what Brock is going to do,” Kittle said. “I think the Niners are going to figure something out to be as team friendly as possible, but still reward him for the things that he has done and the things he is going to continue to do for this organization.”
“I think he’s only going to get better and better, and each year you’re going to see a better version of Brock.”