The San Francisco 49ers are actively working to sign wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk to a contract extension, aiming to maintain their talented young core of players. The team has reached agreements with star players during each of the last four offseasons, securing George Kittle in 2020, Fred Warner in 2021, Deebo Samuel in 2022, and Nick Bosa in 2023.
Another key contributor poised for a new deal next offseason is quarterback Brock Purdy. Over the last couple of years, the 49ers have been in the unique position of not having to pay much money (relatively) to stock their quarterback room while reaping the benefits of superb play from their starting signal-caller.
However, that window is closing.
In 2024, Purdy is slated to earn a base salary of $985,000, followed by $1.1 million in 2025, marking the final year of his rookie contract. Beyond that, the quarterback's salary is poised to skyrocket.
Purdy will inevitably become the 49ers' highest-paid player, and the team has been preparing for this scenario for some time. Balancing a competitive roster while allocating a significant portion of the salary cap to one player presents a challenge for the front office.
"I think it's a good problem when your quarterback is one of your highest-paid guys on your team and in the league," 49ers CEO Jed York told reporters at the NFL owners meetings on Tuesday.
"So there's a lot of planning that goes into it, but again, I'm glad that we have [EVP of football operations] Paraag [Marathe], [general manager John Lynch], [head coach] Kyle [Shanahan]. They're the ones that will figure out the details of it, and I just have to sign the check. So my part in that's pretty easy."
While some may feel uneasy about committing over $40 million annually to one player, the 49ers view it as a positive development. It signifies that they finally found their long-sought solution at quarterback after trading for Jimmy Garoppolo, later signing him a then-record deal, and trading significant draft capital to select his eventual replacement, Trey Lance.
None of that worked out for the 49ers.
The answer at quarterback finally came in 2022, seemingly through a stroke of luck. After previously investing a hefty amount of resources in their quarterback search, the 49ers found Purdy available with the last overall draft pick that year.
The low cost of acquiring Purdy, combined with his outstanding performance since seizing the opportunity to showcase his skills, makes it easier for the organization to justify the cost of compensating the young quarterback.
"It's not hard. I mean, it's what the market is," York continued. "It's not like Brock is going to ask for something that no one has ever asked for before. You have, I don't know how many players making over $40 million as a quarterback right now. And when we signed Jimmy several years ago, it was the largest deal in the history of the NFL for three minutes.
"But we were paying Jimmy 26 or 27 [million dollars], and you see the market has just changed. And whether I like it or not, that's what the market is, and you have to accept the reality of the world. And to me, the quarterback is the most important position, not just in football, but in all sports, and those guys should be paid a lot."