Once considered to be the juggernauts of the NFC, the San Francisco 49ers find themselves attempting to make the most of an ever-aging group of core players. Despite dominating the NFL for the better part of the last three seasons, the franchise has seemingly missed out on its championship window.
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Now chasing the image of their former selves, San Francisco is attempting to negotiate an ideal situation for Brock Purdy. The Pro Bowl signal caller has been forced to contend with being labeled as a “system quarterback” throughout his NFL career. Given the team’s most recent results, that’s likely to remain.
Given his lack of pedigree, in addition to the fact that he enjoys one of the better supporting casts in the NFL today, Purdy’s current contract sees him rank 50th overall in terms of guaranteed money at his position. Despite a career starting record of 23-12, while maintaining a career average 67.5% completion percentage, the Iowa State product is currently netting just $77,008 in guaranteed money.
Keyshawn Johnson mentioned that the average yearly guarantee for a higher tier quarterback in the NFL is usually no less than $50 million a year, indicating that Purdy is being grossly underpaid at his current deal. Regardless as to whether or not he is actually an upper echelon talent, the 49ers will have to drastically increase those numbers should they hope to avoid being forced into the quarterback market.
As Purdy navigates these waters, Johnson had a word of advice for the young signal-caller:
“They should pay him his value… How much guaranteed money are we talking about? When you start to think about these other quarterbacks, Dak Prescott, Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence… What’s the guaranteed money on a five year deal over the first three years? That’s what I’m thinking about as a player and as a front office executive.”
Asserting that “you may not see the back end,” Johnson’s message highlights the importance of proper contract structuring. In fact the three aforementioned passers are all entitled to more than $200 million in guarantees, a far cry from Purdy’s current situation.
Considering that the team’s key pieces are aging, win-now assets such as Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle, the front office would be wise to avoid any complications throughout the process. Believing that the team around him is still good enough to win, if healthy, 49ers GM, John Lynch, informed the media that “I want Brock to be our quarterback as long as we’re here.”
With the presumption being that the team does not want to waste the time of its aforementioned veterans, Lynch is likely telling the truth, suggesting that Purdy should be in line for a massive pay increase this offseason.
