Cam Inman of Bay Area News Group caught up with Brock Purdy over the weekend as the San Francisco 49ers quarterback hosted his inaugural youth football camp at Levi's Stadium. Today, Purdy and most of his teammates will report to the team for the start of the offseason program, which will be limited to meetings, strength and conditioning, and physical rehabilitation over the next couple of weeks.
While this offseason holds significance for Purdy as he seeks to build upon an impressive 2023 campaign that saw him set a single-season franchise record with 4,280 passing yards and lead the 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance, the next offseason will be even more pivotal—at least when it comes to his financial future.
Currently, the 49ers are in negotiations with wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk on a contract extension. Next year, it will likely be Purdy's turn, likely positioning him as the highest-paid player on the roster.
Team ownership views Purdy's impending mega-deal as a blessing and feels capable of ensuring their young quarterback is well compensated.
"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 said last month. "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."
York added that he understands the market for quarterbacks, especially young, successful ones like Purdy.
He concluded, "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."
What did Purdy think of York's comments and praise? The quarterback is more focused on the task at hand: building upon last season's efforts.
"That's great, but for me, I still have to put in the work," Purdy responded. "I have to win games for this organization, and I have to get better, starting here in OTAs. Everything will fall into place that it needs to, and that's how I'm looking at it. But I appreciate his kind words."
Purdy is embarking on his first full offseason since the 49ers drafted him with the last overall pick in 2022. His practice reps were limited as a rookie buried on the depth chart. Last offseason, the quarterback was recovering from offseason surgery on his throwing arm and didn't throw to his teammates until training camp in late July.
Purdy is healthy and sitting atop the quarterback depth chart for the first time in his career, which has the 24-year-old excited to get back to work.
"Just taking the next step with the offense, the playbook, how Kyle sees things, how [QB coach Brian] Griese sees things," Purdy said. "I feel it's a language, in a sense, so how can I get even more familiar with it? Physically, I think about my mobility in general. Obviously with my arm, and then translating that to my hips and running and becoming a better athlete. There's another level to that.
"You look at guys when they enter the NFL, and they evolve as their career goes on. For me, it's taking that serious."
Acknowledging the lingering sting of February's Super Bowl loss, Purdy finds motivation heading into preparations for the upcoming season. The 49ers, boasting one of the league's most talented rosters, are poised to contend for another championship opportunity.
"Obviously, it's still stinging about how we ended the year," Purdy said. "We were right there. There's going to be a lot of guys that are hungry and have that chip on their shoulder, again. For us, we're always going to think we can get it to another level. I know guys like [RB] Christian [McCaffrey], [TE] George [Kittle], and [WR] Deebo [Samuel] are all thinking like that. The fact we've all played together for a year and a half, that gives us a lot of confidence."
Purdy has watched the film from that gut-wrenching Super Bowl defeat. While it brings back some bad memories and highlights missed opportunities, the quarterback can identify a silver lining.
"But watching it gives me some hope because we have a lot of guys coming back," Purdy said. "It's like, alright, we were there, in the moment, so we can learn from it and run with that next year."
