49ers QB Brock Purdy is no longer Mr. Irrelevant: New contract comes with pressure to lead, win

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- In April of 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 add up 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 Game appearances, including one win, but the team failed to win their 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, as he put pen to paper on a five-year, $265 million contract that includes $181 million in guarantees that ties him to the team until after the 2030 season. That makes Purdy the highest-paid player in franchise history -- meaning San Francisco has reached the expiration date on the cheap-quarterback-plus-expensive-roster formula.

While 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 chunks of last season. George Kittle also remains one of the league's premiere 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 on the Niners' home grass at Levi's Stadium -- is asking too much given the team's many offseason departures but if Purdy can return closer to 2023 form, it would offer reassurance that he's the quarterback the team has been eager to hand the keys to for the better part of the past two decades.

Purdy must prove he is, as owner Jed York called him at the league meetings in March, one of the 10 best quarterbacks in the league. That assertion can certainly 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 among all quarterbacks 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 mega-deal, the effects of the contract were already being felt in San Francisco. The Niners went through a significant roster purge in the offseason, saying goodbye to key free agents such as cornerback Charvarius Ward, linebacker Dre Greenlaw, safety Talanoa Hufanga and guard Aaron Banks. They also released starting defensive tackles Javon Hargrave and Maliek Collins as 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 dead money on the salary cap, easily the most in the NFL in 2025, and a roster that will rely heavily on 11 drafted rookies to fill the holes left behind after limiting their free agent shopping to the bargain bin.

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 Warner, Williams 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 did fall off in 2024 when he was without McCaffrey, Aiyuk and Williams for much of the year with other key starters also missing games here and there.

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 the 2.8 he had in 2023. He also continued to have issues authoring late-game comebacks. He had a 54.6 QBR (20th in the NFL) when trailing in the fourth quarter with three touchdowns and five interceptions.

Despite those issues, Purdy still finished with a 67.9 QBR, which ranked seventh in the NFL, and continued to grow as a scrambler with a career-high 323 yards and five touchdowns.

That level of production was more than enough for the Niners to believe in Purdy. For all the lip service paid to that belief in Purdy the past three years, the ultimate litmus test was always going to come when it was time for him to negotiate an extension.

"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 now 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.