The San Francisco 49ers just signed Brock Purdy to a five-year, $265 million contract in the spring of 2025. So there’s no way they’d part ways with him just two years after giving him over $177 million in guaranteed money, right?
Purdy is 26 with plenty of valuable traits that make him a franchise quarterback. He’s aggressive, a playmaker, stays out of negative plays by avoiding sacks, and is accurate. While he’s undersized at 6’1″, Purdy isn’t small. He’s about 220 pounds.
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The 49ers were on the doorstep of a Super Bowl during Purdy’s first season as a starter. They had a halftime lead in the Super Bowl during his first full season as a starter. The team suffered injuries to seemingly every important piece around Purdy during the previous two seasons. Is it fair to say this is somewhat of a prove-it year for Purdy?
According to NFL writer Vincent Bonsignore, it is. He believes the 49ers are a team to watch for the potential Joe Burrow sweepstakes next offseason:
“Multiple league sources have indicated that San Francisco is a team to watch if Burrow serves the Bengals with divorce papers. For the same reasons (49ers head coach) Kyle Shanahan and (general manager) John Lynch made an earnest run at Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford in 2021, some believe they would not hesitate to do the same if Burrow is available.”
The NFL cannot quit Burrow. In ESPN’s annual rankings, Burrow was listed at No. 4 for quarterbacks, even earning a No. 1 ranking.
Purdy was banged up last season. He had a catastrophic injury as a rookie that, to me, prevented the Niners from winning a Super Bowl. But Burrow is no stranger to injuries, either. He missed half the season last year and seven games in 2023. Back in 2020, Burrow had a season-ending left knee injury.
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Bonsignore compared Matthew Stafford’s tenure with the Lions to Burrow, and that’s why he would eventually ask for a trade:
“Much like Stafford’s patience with the Lions eventually ran out and ultimately led him to ask for a trade, Burrow could reach his boiling point with the Bengals. And there has been just enough ice cracking in Cincinnati to suggest another lost season could lead Burrow to take a page out of Stafford’s playbook. If that happens, and if Purdy and the 49ers don’t close the deal this season, the 49ers are a logical trade partner. In fact, Purdy could be the focal point of a hypothetical trade with the Bengals, along with a bunch of draft assets.”
The 49ers made a run at Stafford in 2021 before they had a franchise quarterback. So it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison. I don’t think anybody would argue that Burrow’s talent supersedes Purdy’s. However, Burrow’s injury history is real. You can’t avoid that.
I think this season the discussion around Purdy will be much different now that he has a WR1 to throw to. When he did in 2023, he finished fourth in the MVP voting and seventh in the Offensive Player of the Year voting.
I’d also argue that this season will be the best supporting cast Purdy’s had in his career — with the obvious health asterisk. If Evans>Brandon Aiyuk, and — from purely a route-running perspective — Ricky Pearsall>Deebo Samuel, Purdy gets an upgrade on the perimeter, and gets a big-bodied speedster over the middle in De’Zhaun Stribling, not to mention vertical threats in Christian Kirk, Jacob Cowing, and Jordan Watkins.
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If Purdy is the quarterback the 49ers believed him to be when they gave him a massive deal a little more than a year ago, they’ll give him more than two seasons to prove himself — especially after an injury-riddled 2025.
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