How Brock Purdy's Surgery Potentially Changes the 49ers' Free Agency Plans

With Brock Purdy avoiding Tommy John surgery, the 49ers could potentially be making alterations to their free agency plans.

Mar. 9 was a pivotal date for the 49ers with Brock Purdy scheduled to have surgery.

He was either going to have a repair of his UCL that installs an internal brace into his elbow, which would allow him to start throwing in three months, or he was going to have Tommy John surgery. Had the latter occurred, then it would’ve meant Purdy missing out on the 2023 season. So it was a case of worst versus best case scenario.

Luckily for Purdy and the 49ers, surgery was successful for a repair and placement of an internal brace. The start of the regular season looks just about where Purdy will be good to go for the 49ers if not before. Now that Purdy has undergone successful surgery, this potentially changes the 49ers’ free agency plans, specifically when it comes to signing a quarterback.

Searching for a free agent quarterback could possibly steer the 49ers to the scrap heap of the market and not toward serviceable players. That means free agents such as Mason Rudolph, Kyle Allen, or even Sam Darnold could be the more likely targets for the 49ers. These free agents should come dirt cheap to sign versus higher tier quarterbacks like Marcus Mariota or Andy Dalton who would cost more. 

In the minds of the 49ers, they could be thinking it is pointless to drop the extra $5 million on a better free agent who might not even play with Purdy on schedule for the regular season. Then again, could the 49ers be feeling traumatized from their NFC championship game exit? 

I would lean yes since the 49ers are advocating to have three quarterbacks be active on gameday. So maybe the 49ers still see it fitting to drop some more cash on a quarterback. They would be justified in doing so as the quarterback position has been largely the reason why the 49ers have not won a Super Bowl in their past three playoff runs. I think they should still be looking at strong contingencies at quarterback and not just fillers because there’s no telling what issues could arise with Purdy’s recovery or even Trey Lance’s.

Better to be safe than sorry here.