Brock Purdy hasn’t had the same exceptional NFL season he enjoyed as the San Francisco 49ers starting quarterback in 2023, breaking out in his first year as a full-time starter. But his play in 2024 still won’t affect his upcoming contract extension that is expected to make him one of the league’s highest-paid QBs.
According to recent reports, nothing has changed for coach Kyle Shanahan and the rest of the 49ers’ officials. They are committed to Purdy long-term as their franchise passer.
Purdy set a high Pro Bowl bar last season by leading the league in yards per attempt (9.6), passer rating (113.0), and ESPN QBR (72.8). He was s strong MVP candidate, finishing fourth in the voting.
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There’s a misconception Purdy has “regressed” in 2024. He has just come back to earth with his league-leading 8.7 yards per attempt. He also is just short of a century in efficiency, rating 98.7.
Purdy did miss a game with an elbow injury and won’t be putting up 31 TDs to only 11 INTs, instead on pace for a 20-11 ratio, but he’s also battled major injury issues around him, including missing go-to field-stretching receiver Brandon Aiyuk for most of the season. Feature back Christian McCaffrey played little, and left tackle Trent Williams has been on the shelf of late, too. George Kittle remains reliable to make big plays at tight end, but Deebo Samuel has faded hard.
Purdy has executed for a short-handed but well-schemed Shanahan offense as best as he can with those limitations. He’s found a new top wideout in Jauan Jennings. He’s making it work with a revolving door of running backs. The defense has put more of a passing burden on him.
If anything, despite the 49ers dropping to .500 (6-6) after going 12-5 last season, Purdy’s young leadership can be seen as a huge asset in keeping them afloat in the race for another NFC West title. There’s statistical and visual evidence to show Purdy isn’t just a product of his supporting cast, as many other pocket-based QBs would have crumbled with the depletion around them.
The 49ers know that. Here’s updating then what Purdy should get in his second NFL contract.
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Brock Purdy contract
Purdy will turn 25 on Dec. 27, two days after Christmas 2024. In 2022, after being drafted as “Mr. Irrelevant” at No. 262 overall, he signed a four-year rookie deal with a total value of $3.737 million. Only $77,008 of it was guaranteed. He is a pending free agent in 2026.
Should Purdy play into 2025 without a new deal, he would earn only $1.1 million in base salary, plus $19,252 prorated from his guaranteed salary. That is a highly unlikely scenario.
The 49ers have around a league-high $50 million in salary cap space at the end of 2024 despite giving three of Purdy’s key supporting assets — Aiyuk, Williams, and Jennings — pleasing new contracts. The 49ers are projected to end up with more than $64 million available under the cap for 2025, which has them well positioned to take care of Purdy early.
Brock Purdy contract projection
Several quarterbacks signed big contract extensions in the past two years, helping to figure out where Purdy’s salary floor and ceiling are going forward. In terms of contract length, Purdy won’t get 10 years the way Patrick Mahomes did in a unique carer deal with the Chiefs.
Dak Prescott was signed by the Cowboys to a four-year, $240 million contract earlier in 2024. He is the new league leader in average annual value at $60 million. Prescott also got $231 million of that guaranteed, or more than 96 percent.
But Prescott’s contract, much like Deshaun Watson getting all $230 million of his five-year deal with the Browns guaranteed, is anomalous. Of the recent QBs to sign extensions, the Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa and the Packers’ Jordan Love joined Prescott in getting four years.
Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence, the Bengals and Jaguars’ respective No. 1 overall draft picks at QB in 2020 and 2021, got identical five-year deals at $275 million, for average annual values of $55 million. The difference was Burrow getting $219 million guaranteed, while Lawrence got $200 million guaranteed.
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Regardless of whether Purdy gets four or five years on his extension, he can expect 70-80 percent of his contract to be guaranteed. Outplaying his lowest-possible draft status can push him to the upper end of that range, but he won’t get close to Prescott’s percentage.
Going to four years would be the only way to beat Prescott’s $60 million in AAV and boost the guaranteed money. At five years, Purdy’s looking at a $287 to $290 million, a solid jump from the Burrow and Lawrence parameters from the 2024 offseason. With that, Purdy is looking at more than $230 million guaranteed as Prescott got.
The 49ers are eager to extend Purdy so they can figure out more of their financial future. That can only be done early in 2025, so don’t expect them to hesitate breaking the bank and giving Purdy around 60 times his salary in ’24
