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Nick Wagoner
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — In April 2021, the San Francisco 49ers traded up to select quarterback Trey Lance No. 3 overall in the NFL draft. Lance was viewed as their future franchise signal-caller for the years to come.
The 49ers’ goal was to have a quarterback on a rookie contract while using resources to build a dominant roster around the QB. The hope was that the pieces would equate to a Super Bowl championship.
As it turned out, the Niners did benefit from a rookie quarterback contract window. But it was Brock Purdy — not Lance — who became the team’s starter a year later in 2022 and was playing for the relatively meager wages associated with being the last pick (Mr. Irrelevant) in the 2022 draft. Purdy led the 49ers to two NFC Championship Games, including one win, but the team failed to win its sixth Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl LVIII.
“We made him the last pick of the draft and it’s served us well,” general manager John Lynch said.
Now, Purdy’s rookie contract (that paid him an average of $853,333 per season) has ended, and he signed a five-year, $265 million contractwhich includes $181 million in guarantees, that runs through the 2030 season. That makes Purdy the highest-paid player in franchise history — meaning San Francisco has reached the expiration date on the inexpensive-quarterback-plus-expensive-roster formula.
Though Purdy’s early contract cap numbers figure to remain manageable, the Niners — for better or worse — are now in Purdy’s hands. The days of Purdy being praised as one of the best bargains in sports are done, and it’s up to him to deliver at a level commensurate with being the seventh highest-paid quarterback in the NFL (on a per-year basis).
Despite an avalanche of offseason roster changes after a 6-11 season, there’s no better time for Purdy to begin delivering on that than 2025. The 49ers will enter next season with the easiest schedule in the league, at least based on their opponents’ results from 2024.
If things go according to plan, Purdy should welcome back running back Christian McCaffrey (foot, knee), left tackle Trent Williams (foot) and receiver Brandon Aiyuk (knee) from injuries that cost them large portions of last season. George Kittle also remains one of the league’s premier tight ends and just signed a four-year contract extension that should ensure he remains one of Purdy’s favorite targets for the foreseeable future.
Perhaps another appearance in the Super Bowl — which is set to be played at the Niners’ Levi’s Stadium — is asking too much, given the team’s many offseason departures, but if Purdy can return closer to his 2023 form, it would offer reassurance that he’s the franchise quarterback the team has been seeking for more than two decades.
Purdy must prove he is, as 49ers owner Jed York called him at the league meetings in March, one of the 10 best quarterbacks in the league. That assertion can be backed up by the numbers, if not the eye test.
Since taking over as the Niners’ starter in Week 13 of 2022, Purdy is fourth in QBR (70.2), third in passing yards (9,452), first in yards per attempt (8.9) and seventh in touchdown passes (64).
“I think he’s great,” York said. “Especially when you combine him with Kyle and you combine him with what we have, and he’s a heck of a quarterback. And we want him to be here for a long, long time.”
Even before Purdy signed his new deal, the effects of the contract were being felt in San Francisco. The Niners went through a significant roster purge in the offseason, losing key free agents such as cornerback Charvarius Wardlinebacker Dre Greenlawsafety Talk Hunting and guard Aaron Banks. They also released starting defensive tackles Javon Hargrave and Maliek Collinsas well as end Leonard Floyd and traded away wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. and running back Jordan Mason.
The result of that exodus is nearly $81 million in dead salary cap money, easily the most in the NFL in 2025, and a roster that will rely heavily on 11 drafted rookies to fill the holes after the 49ers spent little in free agency.
Neither York nor Lynch nor coach Kyle Shanahan shied away from the reality that much of their offseason focus was clearing the decks on the roster to make room for Purdy’s deal. Teammates such as Kittle, linebacker Fred WarnerWilliams and McCaffrey have given Purdy repeated votes of confidence and voiced their approval of Purdy’s eventual payday.
The 49ers are betting big that not only can Purdy return to at or near the production he provided in 2022 and 2023 but that he can also continue to grow as a player even if his supporting cast is diminished.
Purdy’s numbers fell off in 2024 when he was without McCaffrey, Aiyuk and Williams for much of the year and was also missing other key starters from time to time.
During that trying season, Purdy continued to struggle in inclement weather while his 1.7 touchdown-to-interception ratio ranked 23rd in the NFL and dropped from his 2.8 in 2023. He also continued to struggle in authoring late-game comebacks. He had a 54.6 QBR (20th in the NFL) when trailing in the fourth quarter, throwing three touchdowns and five interceptions in that situation.
Despite those issues, Purdy finished with a 67.9 QBR, which ranked seventh in the NFL, and grew as a scrambler with a career-high 323 yards and five touchdowns.
That production was more than enough for the Niners to believe in Purdy. For all the talk of the team’s belief in Purdy the past three years, the ultimate litmus test would occur during extension negotiations.
“You need to be certain on that,” Shanahan said. “If you pay a quarterback and if that’s not who you’re certain about, then it’s not going to be very fun after that.”
The inherent implication in Purdy’s new deal is that the onus falls on him to be the type of force multiplier who can raise the production of those around him and usher in a new era of 49ers football with him at the forefront.
