The Faithful have experienced considerable contract stress throughout general manager John Lynch's tenure. Yes, deals get done, contracts get signed, holdouts are relatively short, and there has never been bad blood between the players and management.
That said, we have all been nervous at the end of the summer, waiting for George Kittle, Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, or Deebo Samuel to sign.
And I have waited with bated breath to see if I could buy the jersey of someone I really liked, but didn't want to purchase it until I knew he'd be on the team for at least three more years. Speaking of which, my last jersey was Hufanga's. Please vote below for what I should get this time.
But Brandon Aiyuk was a different story. Not only did he hold out—or hold in—longer, but the team likely paid significantly more than they would have if they had signed him before Amon-Ra St. Brown and Justin Jefferson inked their deals. In his desire to save a million dollars a year, contract negotiator Paraag Marathe likely cost the team two or three times that amount instead. What could have been a relatively easy $26 or $27 million per year ended up being closer to $30 million.
One of the most intelligent contracts the team did was with Jimmy Garoppolo. He was the highest-paid quarterback for about 10 minutes, everyone knowing full well that two or three other quarterbacks would pass him almost before the ink was dry. They should have done that with Aiyuk.
So this offseason began with the wait to see what Brock Purdy's deal would be. Would the team take the Garoppolo route and handle it quickly, or would they make the same mistake they did with Aiyuk?
That's why I was pleased that the Purdy deal was completed relatively quickly. It should have been. When both sides claim they truly want it to happen, and both sides insist it should happen sooner rather than later, then if those statements are accurate, it's likely to happen.
Pundits have argued for months about what Purdy is worth. They have declared that he shouldn't receive $50 million per year. And they argued this when several quarterbacks (Trevor Lawrence, Tua Tagovailoa, Jordan Love) were earning well over $50 million annually, even when they had not come close to Brock's numbers or wins. It's the market, baby. Stop pretending that it isn't, or getting annoyed because you wish the sports world were different.
I suggested this a few months ago. My feeling—and what I have believed for a long time—was that Purdy's agent, Kyle Strongin, would start with something in the upper 50s, knowing they would not get that (Everyone who sells a house lists it far above what they expect to get). But the two numbers that mattered were 53 and 55. Tua's contract averages $53 million per year. With Brock's statistics and wins, Strongin would not go below that. Lawrence's deal averages $55 million per year. Even if Purdy wanted to save the team some money so they could sign other people, the Niners were going to have to beat that contract in some way. That way is usually in the form of guaranteed money.
Which is precisely what happened. The team matched Tua's yearly salary and went beyond the at-signing guaranteed money of Lawrence, Love, Burrow, and even Josh Allen. Purdy and Strongin can therefore point to several figures that demonstrate the team's seriousness in its desire for Brock to be the guy for years. It's also a 5-year deal, whereas Love's was for four. It also showed that the 49ers respect him, while the team secured an agreement that, when all the numbers are crunched, won't financially hinder the team.
I am pleased that I was right about the rough estimate and how they would "beat" the others. And I am even more pleased that he got signed long before the Faithful could even break a sweat.
Now I just need to pick a jersey. Vote below! (Got another idea? Drop it in the comments.)