Last season, the San Francisco team got the best deal in ‘Mr. Irrelevent’ Brock Purdy who led the 49ers into the Super Bowl. Now, Purdy is approaching the end of his $3.7 million rookie deal. Does this mean a colossal extension is likely on the cards for the QB based on his performance? Not everyone seems to think so.
Advertisement
NFL insider Grant Cohn talked about the Purdy-49ers situation on his YouTube show. He claimed that a record-breaking salary to Purdy would put the 49ers in a ‘deficit’ that would impact the whole team’s performance.
This season itself the Niners re-signed Brandon Aiyuk at a whopping $120 million extension and last year Nick Bosa was given a similar favor. However, a mega contract to Brock Purdy, surpassing other elite QBs like Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen, will mean only one thing. Other confederates will have to go.
“How do you put together a better team than those guys with a quarterback who’s more expensive and not as good? You can’t.”
“Brock’s hell of a player but I would not recommend offering him more than Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen,” he added.
This might not work to Purdy’s benefit though. Analysts have claimed the Arizona native to be a system quarterback who relies on ample support from the 49ers’s o-line. A bumper deal would handicap the team’s ability to add better players in the offense— a potential threat to their progress.
So where does this leave the 49ers?
If they choose to prioritize playmakers over their seasoned QB, it might spell disaster as well. While signal callers with huge paychecks may not have been able to capitalize on their mammoth contracts, an unknown addition over a productive QB isn’t the recipe for a Super Bowl-winning team.
While giving his take on the current quarterback market, Cohn claimed that with the rising QB salaries it’s difficult to put together a team that can beat ‘generational talents‘ Mahomes and Allen. More than 10 quarterbacks make more money than Patrick Mahomes but don’t even have a single Super Bowl win among them.
Topping the list is Dak Prescott with a $60 million+ annual salary, the Cowboys made him the highest-paid NFL star after his strong 2023 show but the team hasn’t been able to impress much this season.
After Patrick Mahomes signed a $450 million deal with the Chiefs in 2020, the QB market soared to new heights with top players commanding over $50 million per year. While salaries rose exponentially, the same can’t be said about the performances.
Grant Cohn slams Dak Prescott and Jalen Hurts for making more money
Cohn reiterated that any team paying more money to their quarterbacks than Mahomes or Josh Allen are putting themselves in a deficit. He gave the example of Prescott (who makes $20 million more than Mahomes) and Jalen Hurts, who make more money but haven’t performed at the same level.
Under the NFL salary cap, teams have around $255 million for the whole 53-man rooster and paying $50 million to a quarterback puts the teams under a lot of pressure. In the last 5 years, many quarterbacks who signed a bumper deal failed to perform and teams dropped them even if it meant adding more dead cap.
The 49ers have a balanced lineup that can compete at the highest level so they need to look at all the factors before taking a call on Purdy’s contract. But, giving up Purdy wouldn’t be an easy call either, especially after his 2023 season. The current season will definitely play a vital role in deciding this future.
