Santa Clara, Calif. (AP) - After watching a dramatic leave in the last two years of contract negotiations with San Francisco 49ers teammates, Brock Purdy intends to do his best to avoid repeating it in his case.
Purdy and the 49ers managed to do this when they reached a $265 million five-year extension after no openly contested talks.
Purdy described the 49ers’ initial offer as “respectful” and pointed to the sign of sincerity when the offseason plan started last month. All of this led to the deal that completed before the 49ers started live practice this spring, which made Purdy one of the top 10 salary quarterbacks in the NFL, but did not prevent the team from building a strong roster around him.
“I think where we ended up is exactly where we need to go.” “I’m very happy with where we ended, and I know that so too. That being said, for me it’s all about football. But they used the block space and all of that stuff, and it’s not my job. My job is to go and win games now and lead this team. But I’m so happy and grateful for where we ended.”
It was a pretty good journey for Purdy, who graduated from high school and then was selected in 2022 after a strong college career at Iowa State.
But the once known as "Mr. Irlelevant" player, as his draft form proved himself worthy of a contract with the quarterback, entered the league with the quarterback after helping the Niners make the Super Bowl in their first full season as a starter in 2023.
"There are 32 starting quarterbacks and those guys, like it's not the easiest job in the world," he said. "For me, with everything I do, I can wear the fact that I've been successful in this league, I have the ability to lead an organization until the end, the Super Bowl. I proved that. I know who I am and I'm going to obviously want to get what I deserve, but I'm going to take the people around me, not just trying to work for you."
Purdy earned less than $1 million a year in his first three seasons, and will increase to $5.2 million in 2025 under the league's professional performance escalator last season.
Purdy's success puts the Niners out of potentially disastrous mistakes by putting the Niners away from their potentially disastrous mistakes by taking the Niners in three first-round picks to rank third overall in 2021, until they watched him struggle until 2023.
He took over as the starter late in the rookie season. He won the last five games of the regular season and the first two rounds of the playoffs, then caused serious damage to his throwing elbow in an NFC Championship loss that season.
Purdy was one of the most prolific seasons in 2023 franchise history when he finished fourth in the NFL with MVP votes and helped the team into the Super Bowl before losing to Kansas City in overtime.
He set a franchise record for passing yards (4,280) and became the first Niners QB to pass at least 30 TDs in more than two decades (31). Purdy has led the NFL with 113 passers since Kurt Warner in 2000, with his 9.6 yards per attempt being the most QB in the NFL.
In 2024, it will be difficult to succeed as Purdy is hurt by key offensive players like Christian McCaffrey, Trent Williams and Brandon Aiyuk. His passer's rating dropped by nearly 17 points to 96.1, with only 20 TD passes and 12 interceptions this season, and it's almost the same in several late scenes where the 49ers have a chance to regain their victory.
Purdy's game was part of the overall team's regression, which led to a 6-11 record and missed the San Francisco playoffs for the first time since 2020. That's why he wanted to make sure he was involved in part of the offseason plan to help rebound.
“Everyone is buying now, and obviously we’re excited about having more team activities and work in the offseason,” he said. “It’s hard to explain, but young people, older people, everyone is taking it with me now, and I think it’s so important that we’re around one another with a lot of different activities and keep building chemistry.”
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