All 49ers

Why the Quarterback Market Favors the 49ers, not Brock Purdy

Last year, they probably thought they'd have to pay Purdy at least $60 million per season. Now, they'd be foolish to offer him more than $45 million per season given the shift in the market.

Grant Cohn

Dec 8, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) looks on after the game against the Chicago Bears at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images
Dec 8, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) looks on after the game against the Chicago Bears at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images / Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images
In this story:

The quarterback market has shifted dramatically in the past 12 months, and it hasn't shifted in Brock Purdy's favor.

A year ago, Jordan Love got $55 million per year from the Packers even though he had been a starter for just one season and a good starter for just half a season. In hindsight, it was a ridiculous deal. And now, the market has corrected itself.

This offseason, reigning MVP quarterback Josh Allen signed a contract extension worth $55 million per season. He's not even the highest-paid quarterback in the league -- Dak Prescott is. And his contract is even worse than Love's.

Finally, it seems teams are being more prudent about paying quarterbacks. A year ago, Sam Darnold might have gotten more than $50 per season from a team just based off his one good season in 2024. This year, he got a three-year, $100 million deal with just one year of guaranteed money.

This is good news for the 49ers. Last year, they probably thought they'd have to pay Purdy at least $60 million per season. Now, they'd be foolish to offer him more than $45 million per season given the shift in the market.

Which means Purdy has a choice. He can accept that his value has declined and take the 49ers' austere offer, or he can hold out for a better offer as Brandon Aiyuk did. And given how often the 49ers cave and give important players what they want, don't be surprised if Purdy holds out.

More 49ers news

Subscribe to Grant Cohn's YouTube channel

Download and follow The Cohn Zohn Podcast

Published
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.

Home/News