The 49ers believe they’ve done what every NFL franchise hopes to do in the modern era: they found their franchise quarterback. Brock Purdy in just over one full season as San Francisco’s starter has won 17 of 21 regular season games and four of his six playoff contests. All signs point to him getting a massive deal in free agency, which is part of the reason the 49ers suddenly find themselves with a tangled web of extensions and a couple stars not participating in training camp.
Trent Williams is holding out presumably for more guaranteed money on his contract. Brandon Aiyuk is holding in for a long-term contract extension.
In the past before the 49ers had to plan for an immediate future where their signal caller is going to be making upwards of $60 million per year they might have the Williams and Aiyuk situations resolved by the second day of training camp. Instead they’re having to deal with a reality where their loaded roster now has to try and accommodate a quarterback making top-of-market money.
It’s a new problem for the 49ers front office. When they paid Jimmy Garoppolo what was then a top-of-market deal in 2018 they were in the earliest stages of their rebuild and didn’t have any high-priced players to try and squeeze around that five-year, $137.5 million contract. Now they’re trying to do the same things with the likes of Fred Warner, Nick Bosa, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey, Kyle Juszczyk, Javon Hargrave, Williams and potentially Aiyuk also on deals that put them at or near the top of their respective markets.
To be clear, it’s a good problem to have. Too many good players and a franchise quarterback is a recipe to be a contender more years than not. There’s just a little lack of flexibility given what the team has to carve out for Purdy over the next several years.
This isn’t to say the Williams and Aiyuk deals won’t get done. San Francisco has a very smart front office that has done a really nice job of manipulating the salary cap and working within its confines to have an extended Super Bowl window. These negotiations with both might just wind up taking a little longer than usual because of the Purdy factor and trying to ensure they’re able to pay the QB while also holding onto as many of their top-end pieces for as long as possible.
It’s a complicated puzzle, but it’s a puzzle every team would love to have to solve.
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