Tag: Brock Purdy

Future HOF QB believes NFL teams should learn from 49ers, Brock Purdy

Drew Brees thinks more NFL teams should follow the model the 49ers laid out with Brock Purdy.

The San Francisco 49ers avoided a potentially catastrophic quarterback situation when they selected QB Brock Purdy with the final pick in the 2022 NFL draft.

Former No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance got hurt in Week 2 of a crucial second season where he was to be the team’s starter, and his development track was derailed to the point it may never match up with the 49ers’ immediate timeline for contention. Purdy stepped in and right away helped solve the biggest question mark on the 49ers’ roster.

Future Pro Football Hall of Fame QB Drew Brees believes NFL teams can learn from how the Purdy situation shook out in San Francisco.

Purdy landed the QB3 job out of camp behind Lance and veteran backup Jimmy Garoppolo. The 49ers were a Super Bowl contending team coming off a trip to a second NFC championship game in three years, and boasted a loaded offense guided by one of the league’s best offensive minds in head coach Kyle Shanahan.

It was a nigh perfect situation for Purdy to step into when he took over for an injured Garoppolo in Week 13 of his rookie season. Mr. Irrelevant led the 49ers to the NFC championship game as a rookie, and then to a Super Bowl in Year 2 where they fell to the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime.

Brees told Saints Wire’s Crissy Froyd that QB-needy teams around the league should be looking toward the team-building blueprint San Francisco stumbled upon.

Via Saints Wire:

“(He just) maximized everything about what they were doing offensively in order to win these games. And he’s very cerebral,” Brees said.

There have been some issues in San Francisco that need to be fixed, but Purdy in his own right has proven he can be the quarterback of the future for the team if they can put the right type of consistent pieces in place. Every team needs to support their quarterback, but that’s even more critical for young pros like Purdy.

“So, if he gets into a situation in San Francisco where he’s got a great offense, great run scheme, great head coach and he’s got all this high level experience, that equates to success right away,” Brees said. “I think there’s a lot that can be learned from that story when you talk about how you draft guys and the situations you put them in.”

Ironically, this is also the crux of the discussion surrounding Purdy’s impending contract extension. He was outstanding in his first year-plus as a starter, but his situation was also about as good as a quarterback can ask for. That brings up questions about whether it was the QB or the situation that generated the unprecedented success for a QB who was the final pick in the draft.

The 49ers may not have done it on purpose, but it has worked well for them and all signs point toward Purdy getting a massive contract at or near the top of the QB market this offseason.

It’ll be interesting to see how teams continue building moving forward knowing how players like Purdy and Sam Darnold thrived in more ideal situations. Perhaps we reach a point where teams beginning rebuilds atop the NFL draft focus more on building a strong foundation that lowers the necessary bar for any potential franchise QB to clear.

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Drew Brees says NFL teams could learn a lot from Brock Purdy’s story

Drew Brees says he hopes other teams can learn from Brock Purdy’s underdog story. It’s a new blueprint for drafting and supporting a young quarterback:

Drew Brees knows his way around the quarterback position — that much is evident by the simple fact that he is one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. The New Orleans Saints legend retired with quite a few records to his name and a place waiting for him at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

While he is far from proving he can reach the same heights as Brees, former Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy has far exceeded the expectations with the San Francisco 49ers.

Once seen as “Mr. Irrelevant” as the final pick of the 2022 NFL draft, Purdy has become a legitimate starting NFL quarterback and has earned the praise and recognition of many around the league, including Brees.

“This is the way I look at Brock Purdy. Every single time he stepped on the field in college, he was an underdog,” Brees told me this week. “So, here’s a guy who always had to play kind of with an edge, with a chip on his shoulder.”

In conjunction with Cyclones standout Breece Hall, Purdy made everything Iowa State was doing offensively that much better, in the eyes of Brees.

“(He just) maximized everything about what they were doing offensively in order to win these games. And he’s very cerebral,” Brees said.

There have been some issues in San Francisco that need to be fixed, but Purdy in his own right has proven he can be the quarterback of the future for the team if they can put the right type of consistent pieces in place. Every team needs to support their quarterback, but that’s even more critical for young pros like Purdy.

“So, if he gets into a situation in San Francisco where he’s got a great offense, great run scheme, great head coach and he’s got all this high level experience, that equates to success right away,” Brees said. “I think there’s a lot that can be learned from that story when you talk about how you draft guys and the situations you put them in.”

The former Saints quarterback hopes that other teams can learn from the home run that San Francisco hit here.

Purdy will look to get back to business next season in hopes of returning to the Super Bowl stage, and he’ll likely do it with a new contract. He completed 65.9% of his passes for 3,684 yards with 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 2024. The 49ers have done a great job taking care of Purdy to this point in his career, and they’ve worked hard to retain talent around him. Now it’s his turn to cash in after developing into someone they can because of, not just with.

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49ers’ biggest non-QB priority in 2025 offseason

The 49ers have to get Brock Purdy’s contract done … but then what?

It’s not difficult to look at the San Francisco 49ers’ offseason to-do list and find their top priority.

Quarterback Brock Purdy is entering the final year of his four-year rookie contract, which means he’s eligible for an extension this offseason. Ironing out that contract to ensure the satisfaction of their franchise quarterback and giving themselves a firm understanding of where they stand with the salary cap has to be paramount for San Francisco.

Pro Football Focus correctly identified Purdy’s contract as the top priority for the 49ers.

Via PFF:

San Francisco had an all-star team of players who found themselves on the injured/reserve list this season. A healthy version of this team is still a likely playoff contender. The question is how many of those players can continue to fit on this team if Brock Purdy signs a massive extension.

If Purdy were to sign an extension in the same stratosphere as Jordan Love‘s or Trevor Lawrence‘s, it’s possible they won’t be able to re-sign pending free agents such as Charvarius Ward or Dre Greenlaw. Deebo Samuel could also be an expendable piece on the trade market. Incoming negotiations with Brock Purdy will heavily influence the future structure of this roster.

While decisions about Greenlaw, Samuel and Ward are all important – they pale in comparison to the gravity of Purdy’s deal.

That got us thinking about what the next biggest priority would be for the 49ers this offseason. There are a few clear frontrunners, but one stands out above the rest when trying to grasp how San Francisco has constructed its recent run of Super Bowl contenders.

The 49ers badly need to overhaul their defensive line. In almost all of their deep playoff runs under head coach Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco had a deep defensive front that was effective at stopping the run and persistently got after the quarterback. That started to wane some in 2023, then they didn’t do enough to fix it in the offseason. In 2024 it became an Achilles heel for their defense all year, especially once defensive tackle Javon Hargrave went down with a season-ending triceps tear in Week 3.

While the offensive line also stands out as an area they need to improve in the offseason, they’ve been able to make do with some patchwork units over the years. That’s not to say they can let the OL go by the wayside. But when lining up what group the team should devote more resources to first, the defensive line comes in first in the group of non-Purdy offseason priorities.

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Another huge 49ers contract may tell us when Brock Purdy’s gets done

Optimism the 49ers won’t waste time getting Brock Purdy’s contract done.

There are handful of significant question marks surrounding Brock Purdy’s impending contract extension.

While the matter of how much he’ll be paid is at the forefront of the discussion, when he gets the deal also has some ramifications for a club that fell short in 2024 after an offseason full of contractual tumult.

After dealing with lengthy contract negotiations for defensive end Nick Bosa and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk the last two offseasons, it stands to reason the 49ers would want to avoid getting into a prolonged battle with their franchise quarterback.

General manager John Lynch expressed a desire to get both of those contracts done sooner than later, but the 49ers played hardball and ultimately saw them take all of the preseason. He expressed a similar desire with Purdy’s deal in his end-of-season press conference.

“We have every interest in him being around,” said Lynch. “The way this thing goes, these press conferences are necessary, but always kind of silly because Kyle’s coaching, we spend time together all the time and there are big issues that affect the team, but he’s just getting off coaching. He’s had his door shut for two days doing exit interviews. We were just up, but we were talking about our players. We’ll have some time here in the coming weeks to sit together and put our whole plan together. That’s obviously a priority, that position, and we’ll give it that attention.”

It may be tough to believe a 49ers front office that has typically taken its time with big-money contracts, there’s some optimism that a deal for the signal caller may come down sooner thanks to how they operated with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s contract.

Garoppolo’s contract extension was first reported February 8, 2018 – well before the start of free agency.

The circumstances are different, to be sure. Purdy has two-plus seasons under his belt as the starter and has one year left on his rookie deal. Garoppolo started just five games for the 49ers in 2017 after they acquired him for a second-round pick. He was due to hit free agency, but San Francisco could have used the franchise tag.

The club also has a different cap situation now with more highly-paid players, but they have room to fit a top-of-market deal onto their books, and the last time they had to get a QB deal done they wasted no time in doing so.

Purdy’s contract may not get done in early February. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see it come down either before or shortly after free agency begins though. Doing so would ensure he’s in the building for all of the offseason and training camp. Avoiding a prolonged contractual spat with their QB would also put the 49ers on the right track toward bouncing back in 2025 while avoiding some of the issues that derailed them before the 2024 season even kicked off.

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49ers salary cap space in good spot entering 2025 offseason

The 49ers salary cap management is pretty good.

The San Francisco 49ers find themselves in an advantageous spot with the salary cap entering the 2025 offseason.

While Brock Purdy’s pending extension will undoubtedly force the club to make some adjustments to their spending long-term, it isn’t likely to have a substantial impact this offseason. Thanks to some contract maneuvering last season, the 49ers will enter 2025 more than $47 million under the projected $272.5 million salary cap according to Over the Cap.

Thanks to an NFL-high $50,096,964 in carryover space from the 2024 season, the 49ers will have the 12th-most cap space entering the offseason.

Here’s what each team’s salary cap space is according to OTC:

1. New England Patriots: $122,067,139
2. Las Vegas Raiders: $107,308,173
3. Washington Commanders: $96,028,698
4. Arizona Cardinals: $81,576,219
5. Chicago Bears: $80,486,337
6. Los Angeles Chargers: $74,428,749
7. Minnesota Vikings: $71,330,620
8. Green Bay Packers: $61,381,852
9. Detroit Lions: $59,127,286
10. Cincinnati Bengals: $57,138,434
11. Los Angeles Rams: $56,570,193
12. San Francisco 49ers: $56,564,041
13. Pittsburgh Steelers: $54,303,012
14. Denver Broncos: $53,471,089
15. New York Giants: $53,435,270
16. Tennessee Titans: $49,842,691
17. Jacksonville Jaguars: $35,765,938
18. Indianapolis Colts: $32,703,628
19. Carolina Panthers: $29,083,104
20. New York Jets: $27,854,725
21. Philadelphia Eagles: $25,662,494
22. Baltimore Ravens: $23,455,824
23. Kansas City Chiefs: $19,945,685
24. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $19,935,539
25. Dallas Cowboys: $14,998,777
26. Houston Texans: $6,909,720
27. Atlanta Falcons: $4,039,709
28. Buffalo Bills: $2,012,780
29. Miami Dolphins: -$2,827,083
30. Seattle Seahawks: -$16,465,244
31. Cleveland Browns: -$23,390,523
32. New Orleans Saints: -$51,390,583

For the 49ers their cap space will need to be carefully managed since they will have some dead money on their books over the next couple of seasons, and in the near future Purdy’s cap number will skyrocket and make things a little trickier in terms of keeping or signing high-priced talent.

With plenty of holes to fill on both sides of the ball, how the 49ers manage the advantageous place they’re in from a cap standpoint entering the offseason will play a key role in determining how quickly they bounce back and how wide they can open a new Super Bowl window.

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Brock Purdy implies he’ll hold out without new contract from 49ers

And so it begins…

Getting a contract extension done with quarterback Brock Purdy has to be the San Francisco 49ers’ top offseason priority.

Purdy put some pressure on the team during Monday’s locker cleanout when he told reporters he was hoping for a new deal so he could report to OTAs. The implication there is he will holdout until his extension is done.

“I want to obviously get it done,” Purdy said via ESPN’s Nick Wagoner. “If that’s an opportunity to be able to get that done quick, that’d be great. Just so we can get back for Phase One.”

Phase One of the offseason typically begins in the middle of April, which puts San Francisco’s front office on a tight clock.

Purdy didn’t outright say he’d hold out, but when asked if he would attend OTAs without a deal, he didn’t commit to it.

“I’m not really sure as of now,” Purdy said when asked outright if he’d attend OTAs and minicamp per a video from the SF Standard’s David Lombardi. “But like I said before, I want to get back to work as soon as I can with the guys, so hopefully something would get done sooner rather than later.”

Purdy is eligible for an extension now that Week 18 has ended, giving the 49ers a little more than four months to hammer out a deal that won’t be easy to navigate after the QB’s struggles in his third season.

Having a deal done before mid-April would be a pretty stark departure from the norm on these big contracts for the 49ers. They’ve typically used training camp in late July as a soft deadline to get big-money extensions done. Given how long extension talks lasted for defensive end Nick Bosa last season and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk this season, 49ers brass may not be keen on potentially missing their QB for that much time.

Getting a contract done with Purdy soon so the team can move on with its 2025 campaign has to be the priority. It wouldn’t be terrible if he winds up missing some of the offseason program, but they can’t let his holdout bleed into camp where it could start having a dramatic impact on their chances to bounce back in 2025.

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49ers inactives: No Brock Purdy or Deebo Samuel, but George Kittle active vs. Cardinals

A look at which 49ers players would not dress or play in Week 18 against the Cardinals

The San Francisco 49ers entered their Week 18 finale on the road against the Arizona Cardinals with several starters ruled out. Quarterback Brock Purdy, receiver Deebo Samuel and cornerback Deommodore Lenoir were all ruled out with injuries.

Other starters — tight end George Kittle and right tackle Colton McKivitz — were questionable.

Both Kittle and McKivitz would dress for the game and play. They were not among San Francisco’s inactive players for the game.

Below are the players they deactivated:

49ers Week 18 inactive list

  • QB Brock Purdy
  • WR Deebo Samuel Sr.
  • CB Deommodore Lenoir
  • DL Robert Beal Jr.
  • CB Tre Avery
  • DL Khalil Davis
  • RB Israel Abanikanda

With no Samuel, Jauan Jennings, Kittle and rookie Ricky Pearsall would be the primary pass catchers for quarterback Josh Dobbs, starting in place of Purdy.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

 

49ers injury update: George Kittle officially active vs. Cardinals

George Kittle is IN vs. Arizona.

The San Francisco 49ers will finish out their 2024 season with tight end George Kittle in the mix.

Kittle was listed as ‘questionable’ on the Week 18 injury report because of ankle and hamstring issues. He was a non-participant in Wednesday’s practice, but returned on a limited basis for Thursday and Friday.

He was not among the team’s list of inactives for Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. Here is who won’t suit up for San Francisco:

QB Brock Purdy (elbow)
WR Deebo Samuel (ribs, wrist)
CB Deommodore Lenoir (shoulder)
DE Robert Beal Jr. (ankle)
CB Tre Avery
DT Khalil Davis
RB Israel Abanikanda

There won’t be an emergency third signal caller for the 49ers since Purdy is out. Joshua Dobbs will start and Brandon Allen will back him up. Undrafted rookie QB Tanner Mordecai didn’t get a call up from the practice squad in Saturday’s roster moves because San Francisco needed depth at other positions.

Trent Taylor was called up since Samuel is out, and undrafted rookie Drake Nugent was added to give the interior offensive line some depth.

A huge key for the 49ers on Sunday will be keeping the players who are playing healthy. Defensive end Nick Bosa is playing through hip and oblique issues, and linebacker Fred Warner is playing with a broken bone in his ankle.

Ensuring nobody is dealing with anything throughout the offseason that might impact them next year will be more important than the final score at State Farm Stadium.

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WR Deebo Samuel is one of five ‘out’ on 49ers Week 18 injury report

All the latest updates and news on 49ers’ injury report ahead of a Week 18 game vs. Cardinals.

The San Francisco 49ers will finish the season the way they started it – banged up and missing a handful of star players.

Wide receiver Deebo Samuel, quarterback Brock Purdy and cornerback Deommodore Lenoir are all listed as ‘out’ for the team’s Week 18 matchup with the Arizona Cardinals.

Tight end George Kittle is also ‘questionable.’

It’s not a huge surprise the 49ers opted for maximum caution with player like Purdy and Lenoir since both figure to be key pieces in the team’s future beyond the 2024 campaign. The same may be true for Samuel, although his future in San Francisco is still uncertain.

For the 49ers, they can’t climb out of the cellar in the NFC West, so there isn’t much to play for in Sunday’s game. A win could drop them as far as No. 14 in the NFL draft. A loss would keep them at No. 11, which is where they’re slated to pick entering the final week of the regular season.

49ers injury report

Out

DE Robert Beal (ankle)
OL Spencer Burford (calf)
CB Deommodore Lenoir (shoulder)
QB Brock Purdy (elbow)
WR Deebo Samuel (ribs, wrist)

Doubtful

LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (calf)

Questionable

S Ji’Ayir Brown (ankle)
TE George Kittle (ankle, hamstring)
OT Colton McKivitz (knee)
CB Isaac Yiadom (pelvis)

Kickoff from State Farm Stadium in Arizona is slated for 1:25pm Pacific Time.

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Not much good news in 49ers Week 18 injury updates

The 49ers injury issues persist.

The San Francisco 49ers are in a tough spot entering their 2024 season finale.

Not only is the club dealing with a spate of injury issues, they also don’t have anything to play for and they’re in the midst of a short week after playing Monday night in Week 17.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Wednesday indicated the quicker turnaround after a Monday game would alter how the team operated with some of their injured players. That manifested itself with 11 players out of Wednesday’s session. It stands to reason things might’ve gotten better Thursday, but the club still had 11 players out with only one player upgrading their status from Wednesday.

Tight end George Kittle was a limited participant in Thursday’s practice after not participating in Wednesday’s session. Safety Ji’Ayir Brown was limited Wednesday by an ankle injury and then didn’t practice Thursday.

Perhaps Friday will bear some good news and the 49ers will be closer to full strength for Sunday’s season finale. It’s hard to bank on that given how bad their injury luck has been this year.

Did not participate

DE Robert Beal (ankle)
DE Nick Bosa (knee)
S Ji’Ayir Brown (ankle)
OL Spencer Burford (calf)
LB Demetrius Flanngan-Fowles (calf)
DE Leonard Floyd (shoulder)
CB Deommodore Lenoir (shoulder)
OT Colton McKivitz (knee)
QB Brock Purdy (elbow)
WR Deebo Samuel (ribs, wrist)

Limited participation

TE George Kittle (ankle, hamstring)
WR Ricky Pearsall (illness, chest)
CB Isaac Yiadom (pelvis)

Full participation

RB Isaac Guerendo (foot, hamstring)
S Talanoa Hufanga (wrist)

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