There is one aspect of San Francisco’s negotiation with Brock Purdy that could be to their benefit.
The San Francisco 49ers are getting set for the 2025 NFL Draft, where they’ll look to find several instant-impact players after sitting out free agency for the most part.
But, even with the draft three weeks away, the biggest question mark remains the impending contract extension for quarterback Brock Purdy, with the start of the team’s offseason program just two weeks away.
San Francisco and Purdy have mentioned a desire to get it done by there, with general manager John Lynch saying it’s not completely out of the cards last week at the NFL’s annual league meetings.
“I think we’re going to get the deal done,” general manager John Lynch said this week at the NFL’s annual meetings, via ESPN’s Nick Wagoner. “That’s what I believe. We’ll just leave it at that.”
“I don’t think it’s too optimistic [to get it done by the start of the offseason program],” Lynch continued. “I think I understand why Brock wants that. We’d like that very much, so we’ve just got to find that right place for both sides, and I would love nothing more than for that to be the case.”
But, the 49ers have also dragged out several negotiations in the past, looking to get the best deal for themselves, which has both benefited and hurt the franchise in different ways.
With Purdy, San Francisco is facing their biggest negotiation yet, as the expectation is that the quarterback will be a top-10-paid signal-caller in the league. In fact, owner Jed York called Purdy a top-10 quarterback just last week.
“I think he is [a top-10 quarterback],” York said, via the SF Standard’s David Lombardi. “I think he’s great. Especially when you combine him with Kyle and what we have, he’s a heck of a quarterback and we want him here for a long, long time.”
If Purdy were to be paid like a top-10 quarterback, that would put him at an annual average salary of at least $51 million per year. However, there is one factor benefiting the 49ers in their negotiations with Brock Purdy: the quarterback’s market value.
Purdy is undoubtedly valuable to the 49ers. There’s a reason that a massive extension is expected over the next few months. But, how valuable is he to other teams?
Looking around the league, it’s unclear whether the consensus is that Purdy is a quarterback worth over $50 million, given his resume. He’s had one elite season, one middling year, and another where he played half the year.
Now, quarterbacks have certainly gotten paid after a major starting year (see Jordan Love), but Purdy’s market outside of the 49ers doesn’t seem to be as big as with the team. That could be a factor for San Francisco if they want to have a contentious negotiation.
Of course, to get a deal done sooner rather than later, San Francisco may need to cave more to the demand of at least $50 million per year, perhaps even higher than the $53 million per year that Detroit’s Jared Goff and Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa have gotten.
However, in the past, they’ve looked to use whatever leverage they have to their advantage in negotiations. That could be the case again this offseason with Purdy.