Kyle Shanahan on Brock Purdy: ‘I plan on being with Brock here the whole time I’m here. Brock’s been a stud.’ The 49ers brass knows who their QB is
There is expected to be plenty of drama this offseason regarding the San Francisco 49ers. Many believe it will surround quarterback Brock Purdy and his inevitable extension, but that might be the easiest decision the Niners make this year.
We have tangible evidence that the 49ers can reach their ceiling, albeit when healthy, with Purdy at quarterback.
This past season was objectively a down year for Purdy. He played without his best wide receiver, the reigning Offensive Player of the Year, for much of the season and played in several games without multiple targets.
Among quarterbacks to throw at least 300 passes in 2024, Purdy finished with the fifth-lowest on-target percentage and the sixth-highest interception percentage. That’s not ground-breaking information, as we saw Purdy’s accuracy dip.
But kicking him to the curb in favor of whoever the hypothetical alternative is a losing proposition. None of the quarterbacks in the upcoming NFL Draft appear to be answers for a franchise, and the options in free agency are clear downgrades.
That won’t stop the 49ers rass from getting questions about their quarterback. John Lynch was asked on Wednesday if the team has the same optimism that Purdy’s extension would get done by the first phase of OTAs, which is around the second or third week of April:
“Well listen, I think what we know about Brock is that he’s our guy. We’ve got, 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. 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. The way this thing goes, these press conferences are necessary, but always kind of silly because Kyle’s coaching, we spend time together all the time and there are big issues that affect the team, but he’s just getting off coaching. He’s had his door shut for two days doing exit interviews. We were just up, but we were talking about our players. 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.”
Shanahan was asked how he’d asses Brock’s performance from this past year. He called Purdy the leader of the team:
“Brock is the leader of our team. I’ve loved these three years with Brock. I plan on being with Brock here the whole time I’m here. So, 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 in the field these last two and a half years and capable of winning a Super Bowl with him. We just almost did. And I know he is capable of getting the Niners a Super Bowl in the future.”
Once you have a season like you did in 2022 and 2023, where the quarterback is the reason you’re winning, it’s tough to pivot from him. In the 49ers’ situation, they know that when they have their full complement of weapons, Purdy is the man for the job.
In 2025, assuming Brandon Aiyuk returns to form and the receiver room manages to stay healthy, Purdy should look more like the version of last year than this one.