There’s no bigger priority for the San Francisco 49ers in the 2025 offseason than hammering out a long-term contract extension with quarterback Brock Purdy.
ESPN’s Ben Solak isn’t so sure that extension gets done. In a piece about the upcoming offseason, Solak offered a prediction where San Francisco opted to make Purdy play out the final year of his contract.
Via ESPN:
Unlike most teams that rush to sign young free agents to big contracts, the 49ers will elect to wait on Purdy’s contract. They want to see more of the quarterback in the changing offense to be sure he’s their franchise guy — he’ll be a free agent in 2026. This will lead to a training camp holdout that ultimately resolves with Purdy playing but makes for good summer drama.
Summer drama is the very last thing the 49ers need, and “they want to see more of the quarterbacking in the changing offense to be sure he’s their franchise guy” is a stark contrast to what general manager John Lynch said at his end-of-season press conference.
“Well listen, I think what we know about Brock is that he’s our guy,” Lynch said. “We’ve got, we have interest in Brock being around here for a long, long time. He’s done so much for our organization, he’s won big games. Had a little tougher task, as we all did, this year with some of the things that happened throughout the course of the year. We just never could string games where we were all together. And through that, he continued to lead, he continued to play at a high level. So, we have every interest in him being around.”
Paying Purdy sooner rather than later has to matter even more to the 49ers than ensuring they’re squeezing every last penny out of their contract negotiations. It will get tricky, to be sure, but it would behoove San Francisco to ensure they avoid drama by having a deal done in time for Purdy to report to OTAs and mandatory minicamp with a new contract in tow.
If Solak’s prediction rings true and it’s another summer filled with contract drama for the 49ers, it could quickly become another football season filled with disappointment.