Brock Purdy’s impending contract extension will rightfully dominate the quarterback conversation around the San Francisco 49ers this offseason, but it’s not the lone question mark at the QB position for them.
While Purdy is do to get a new deal that figures to make him one of the NFL’s highest-paid signal callers, San Francisco also has to figure out what they’re going to do behind Purdy.
QBs Joshua Dobbs and Brandon Allen are both slated to hit free agency in the offseason. That leaves 2024 undrafted rookie Tanner Mordecai as the only other QB on the roster.
At a minimum the 49ers need to add another QB, and they’ll probably look to add two so they have four on their offseason roster. It’s hard to believe they’ll roll into next year with Mordecai as Purdy’s backup, even if they’re happy with Mordecai’s development in his rookie season.
It stands to reason Dobbs may not want to return to a situation where he won’t have a chance to start. He spent most of 2024 as the third-string QB behind Purdy and Allen.
Allen acquitted himself well in his lone start of the year in Green Bay, but he fell behind Dobbs on the depth chart for the final game of the season when Purdy was out with a right elbow injury. It’s not a slam dunk that the 49ers are fine with Allen as their QB2 again next year.
What San Francisco can’t afford to do is ignore the position given what happened at the end of the 2024 season when Purdy took a helmet to the elbow in Week 17 and had to miss the season finale. After nearly two full seasons of healthy QB play it became easy to forget the injury-driven tumult that under center that preceded Purdy.
He hasn’t been hurt as often as a player like Jimmy Garoppolo, but the need to insulate themselves from a QB injury is still there. Finding a player they believe can step in and win some games if Purdy has to miss time is imperative to the 49ers’ offseason to-do list.
Perhaps it’s Allen. He lost his start in Green Bay, but head coach Kyle Shanahan was complimentary of the veteran’s performance in his first start since 2021. Perhaps it’s Dobbs after his 326-yard outing against the Arizona Cardinals. Perhaps it’s Mordecai or a 2025 draft pick.
Whoever it winds up being, it has to be a player the 49ers are confident in. Simply throwing any inexpensive player behind Purdy on the depth chart puts the team in a precarious position where an injury to the QB ostensibly ends their season. Purdy’s injury late in 2024 highlighted that reality and the 49ers need to make sure they address it properly in 2025.