-
Nick Wagoner
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Sooner or later after the disappointing 2024 season ended, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy was inundated with questions on his forthcoming contract discussions.
On the time, Purdy did not know a lot about how it might all go down, however he did hope for one factor: a speedy negotiation. At that January media session, Purdy expressed hope that he may have a brand new deal achieved by the point the Niners opened their offseason coaching program in April.
Purdy and the Niners did not fairly attain that synthetic deadline, however they got here shut as Purdy signed a five-year, $265 million contract extension Tuesday, simply 28 days after the offseason program started however earlier than on-field organized group actions, that are set to start subsequent Tuesday.
“Being right here day one was an enormous emphasis for me, no matter having a contract achieved or not,” Purdy mentioned. “However I had plenty of religion in my agent and the Niners that we had been going to get one thing achieved. I did not know when precisely, however being right here for part one was big for me.”
Purdy’s persistence was rewarded in no small half as a result of he and agent Kyle Strongin set a course for his negotiations close to the tip of final season. At that time, they laid out a imaginative and prescient for what they had been hoping to get out, what they could be keen to sacrifice to make it occur and the way finest to get Purdy what he earned whereas not handicapping the franchise’s means to construct round him.
On Wednesday, Purdy spoke to the Bay Space media for the primary time since signing his extension and acknowledged that squeezing each greenback out of the negotiations wasn’t a precedence.
“I feel the place we ended up was precisely the place we wanted to be,” Purdy mentioned. “I am extraordinarily proud of the place we ended and I do know the Niners are, too. … Nonetheless they use the cap area and all that type of stuff, that is not my job. My job is to now go and win video games and lead this group, however I am extraordinarily glad and grateful for the place we ended.”
Purdy’s extension consists of $181 million in ensures (together with these for harm) and a full no-trade clause, the primary in franchise historical past. The $53 million annual common tied Purdy with Detroit’s Jared Goff for the seventh highest within the league, although the extension will not totally kick in till the 2026 season and takes him by way of the 2030 season.
These numbers firmly place Purdy among the many 10 highest-paid quarterbacks within the league however nonetheless fall wanting different offers negotiated previously 5 years, particularly in terms of proportion of the wage cap because it pertains to common worth. Purdy’s new deal is available in at just below 19% in that regard.
The rationale, at the least partially, is that Purdy did not wish to restrict the Niners in terms of paying different key gamers. It is a notion pushed dwelling by the profitable extensions that tight finish George Kittle and linebacker Fred Warner have additionally achieved this offseason.
“We wish to be sure that we’re working along with our group and establishing all people for fulfillment,” Purdy mentioned. “It isn’t only for me to get all the cash as a lot as I can, but additionally, hey, let’s encompass your self with an excellent group and gamers and an excellent locker room, and all these issues mattered.”
The timing of Purdy’s contract is not only a welcome sight for him however the group as effectively. In recent times, the Niners have struggled to shut offers of comparable magnitude earlier than the common season, not to mention the start of the OTAs.
Defensive finish Nick Bosa, receiver Brandon Aiyuk and left sort out Trent Williams have all taken half in negotiations which have dragged deep into coaching camp and stored them away for a lot of the offseason program.
That will not be the case for Purdy, nonetheless. He was taking part in golf on the famed Olympic Membership in San Francisco along with his spouse, Jenna, and middle Jake Brendel and his spouse, Zan, on Friday when normal supervisor John Lynch reached him with the information that the deal was achieved.
Within the days that adopted, Purdy mirrored on his journey from the final choose within the 2022 NFL draft to franchise quarterback and the highest-paid participant in Niners historical past. He and his spouse contemplated potential purchases, and although Purdy hasn’t dedicated to something but, he did say he want to personal a bass boat sooner or later.
Along with his contract enterprise behind him, Purdy can get to work serving to San Francisco rebound from final season’s 6-11 end. Purdy mentioned Wednesday he’s “totally wholesome” and “100%” after coping with an elbow harm that stored him out in Week 18 and a shoulder difficulty that stored him out of a recreation earlier within the season.
“That is simply my story,” Purdy mentioned. “It is simply been the place God has had me and I have been all-in on it and very grateful to be on this place. And it fires me up greater than something to wish to proceed to get higher and assist this group win.”
