The 49ers have a couple of decisions to make at the most important position in football.
The San Francisco 49ers head into the offseason with a number of questions to answer, but none is arguably more important than the discourse at the quarterback position, where starter Brock Purdy is poised to earn a significant contract extension over the coming months.
Purdy, a seventh-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, has seen growth year after year but faced a tougher season in 2024, as the 49ers were decimated by injuries, leading to a bit of a down year in comparison to his record-breaking 2023 season.
Still, he is in line to receive a top-of-the-market extension as many young quarterbacks in the NFL have received after just his third season in the league, which has created a debate as to how hefty that contract should be.
While there is also a discussion about whether Purdy should receive that contract, it’s tough to envision a scenario where the quarterback doesn’t get his extension this offseason for a variety of reasons.
Even if the 49ers view the extension as too significant of a cost, they’re stuck in a situation without a clear avenue for a replacement. They’re in the midst of a weak quarterback class and won’t be able to even get one of the top options at No. 11. There aren’t any top-10 options set to become a free agent on the open market. And the 49ers clearly do not want to take a step back, which could put the jobs of head coach Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch trending towards the hot seat with another disappointing season.
So, because there isn’t any clear avenue to get an upgrade at the position, the 49ers are in a place where they need to pay Purdy, which is why it seems imperative to get a deal done sooner than later in order to not let the situation drag out as many previous negotiations have with the franchise.
There will always be questions about whether Purdy will be worth the extension, which is what several franchises are facing right now after extending their own quarterbacks to hefty market-level extensions.
But, like in those situations, it feels as if the 49ers don’t really have a choice to go with any other alternative if they want to compete in 2025 and for the foreseeable future.
The bigger question at the position is: who will be the 49ers backup quarterback in 2025?
San Francisco had a battle at the No. 2 spot last offseason between free agent signee Joshua Dobbs and Brandon Allen, with the latter initially winning before the former took over towards the end of the season.
A veteran that can hold up in games would make sense, but San Francisco could also look to the development route with a quarterback in the later rounds of the draft, going with a cheaper option while allocating resources elsewhere on the roster.
With the team carrying three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster over the past few seasons, potentially adding both a veteran and a rookie could make sense as well for the team.
Nonetheless, there are a few questions that the 49ers must address at the quarterback position, both at the top and with their depth. How they approach those questions could dictate how the offseason, and as a result, the 2025 season goes.