The biggest question of the San Francisco 49ers offseason finally has its answer. They have signed quarterback Brock Purdy to a five-year $265 million deal, officially anointing him the team's next franchise quarterback.
Regardless of the ups and downs during the negotiation, there was never much doubt that the Niners and Purdy would come to a deal. San Francisco tends to play these things out though they did not drag this one out too far.
While the two sides are believed to be exchanging numbers it is easy to get carried away in the potential alternatives that could be going on behind the scenes. In this case, that would be a trade.
But fans had no reason in actuality to worry about losing Purdy in a trade. The Niners were not putting him into deals and shopping him, and there was no real interest on the market for him either, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
“I remember talking to teams and just being like, ‘Hey,’ as they were trying to solve their quarterback needs, ‘any interest in Brock Purdy?’ And they were like, ‘Great player, but he’s a great player for them,'" Schefter said on ESPN's Get Up. So they didn’t see it that way. So that was the opinion of other teams.”
One one hand this comes across backhanded at Purdy. The Niners' quarterback has fielded criticism for merely serving as a system player unable to contribute to winning outside a Kyle Shanahan offense.
Alternatively and most likely an overall lacking quarterback problem around the league and the Niners' unwillingness to trade him made Purdy an unattractive asset.
A total of two quarterbacks were taken in the first round of the draft. Quarterbacks did move around during free agency but there were not many changes that will have much of an immediate impact.
Purely based on his performance, Purdy would demand a big-time extension anywhere he went. If the Niners were to be convinced on any trade, that deal would be part of it.
But the questions or controversy around this extension matters not. The Niners have taken a firm stance on Purdy being their guy.