The 49ers Still Plan to Give Brock Purdy a Multi-Year Extension

Strange timing.
Dec 1, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Snow sits on top of the helmet of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) in the fourth quarter game against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images
Dec 1, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Snow sits on top of the helmet of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) in the fourth quarter game against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images / Mark Konezny-Imagn Images
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Strange timing.

Brock Purdy has lost two games in a row, he may or may not have an injured throwing shoulder and his record in his last 16 starts is 8-8. His stock is lower than it ever has been since he became a starting quarterback in the NFL and he has five more games this season to show he can bounce back.

Despite all that, the 49ers still want to give him a multi-year contract extension this offseason according to The NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

"For the San Francisco 49ers," Rapoport said, "this season has obviously not gone as they hoped and expected, leading to some questions -- I guess -- about whether or not Brock Purdy is still the guy. From what I am told, he is in fact still the guy, and the 49ers plan on locking Brock Purdy up on a long-term extension this coming offseason."

Why are the 49ers in such a rush to extend Purdy?

Don't they want to see if he can regain his Pro Bowl form or if his dominance was short-lived? He's under contract next year. They could make him play out his rookie deal and then franchise tag him in 2026 if he continues his inconsistent play.

Extending Brock Purdy most likely would cost the 49ers more than $50 million per season. That's too much money for a quarterback who's good but not elite. Instead of making Purdy the highest-paid player in franchise history, they could trade him for a first-round pick and sign Sam Darnold for $30 million per season.

Even if the 49ers keep Purdy, they need to draft a quarterback this offseason potentially as high as Round 1. Because Purdy has clear limitations. He can't play in wet weather and his passes have less zip on them now than they had a year ago. His surgically-repaired throwing arm could be wearing down. He hasn't thrown deep since before the bye week. Something is off with him.

Last year, the Atlanta Vikings gave Kirk Cousins a multi-year extension and then drafted a quarterback in Round 1 a couple months later. Don't be surprised if the 49ers do something similar with Purdy this offseason.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.