San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch recently appeared on the Chris Simms Unbuttoned podcast, offering limited insight into the ongoing contract negotiations with quarterback Brock Purdy.
“What I will tell you, I can tell you, is we’re having really good, positive discussions,” Lynch said. “When it gets done, I’m not sure. I hope sooner rather than later, but hope is not a strategy. So, we’re making progress. We’ve had good discussions.”
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio joined The Rich Eisen Show and predicted what kind of deal the 49ers quarterback might land. Florio projected a massive annual salary for Purdy, potentially the second-highest in the NFL.
Florio said his estimate was based on the structure of the deal the 49ers gave tight end George Kittle, suggesting Purdy’s contract will feature the first two years fully guaranteed.
“But when you see the new money average per year, that’s the big number that gets compared to all the others,” Florio explained. “There are ways to pump that up. There are ways to put some money into the back-end years to get him north of 55 [million dollars annually].
“I’m thinking it’s going to be 55.1 [million dollars annually], which will put him ahead of everyone but Dak Prescott and Josh Allen.”
According to Over The Cap, that figure would edge out Allen’s current deal, paying $55 million annually, with only Prescott’s $60 million per year remaining higher.
“But when you scratch it and look at it, it’s probably going to be—and this is just my interpretation based on Kittle’s contract—it’s going to be a two-year commitment for a lot of money,” Florio added. “Year three, maybe partially guaranteed, maybe a way to unlock more guarantees for year three. But … no team makes a commitment of more than three years fully guaranteed to a quarterback on a contract other than the rookie deal.”
Florio estimated Purdy could receive $90–100 million guaranteed over the first two years. After that, the deal could shift to a year-to-year structure, with large sums scheduled in the later years—money the 49ers may never have to pay if they restructure the agreement down the line. This setup would still allow the average annual salary to rank above everyone except Prescott.
“That’ll allow the agent to use the Purdy contract to try to get new clients, because that’s the whole ball game,” Florio said.
As for the timeline, Florio believes the contract could be completed before the 49ers begin organized team activities (OTAs) on May 27.
“I think from his perspective, I’m not taking part in a single snap of OTAS unless I have my new contract,” Florio concluded.
