The San Francisco 49ers signed quarterback Brock Purdy to a five-year, $265 million contract extension last month. The new contract will pay Purdy an average salary of $53 million per year, making Purdy the seventh-highest-paid quarterback in the league.
Though some felt Purdy wasn't deserving of the lofty contract he signed, he still could have tried negotiating for more, or to become one of the top-three highest-paid quarterbacks in the league, which often happens when a starting quarterback signs a new deal. Instead, $53 million was just the right number for Purdy and the team.
“I thought the 53 number was awesome," Purdy told Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard on his podcast. "And now we can have a great team, great cap space, too—so move things around and for them to do their thing and continue to have guys around me to make plays and go win together.”
Purdy approached his contract extension wanting to be paid what he felt he was worth, while also not draining the team.
“My job is, hey, like I understand where we’re at with the cap and all that," Purdy said. "But for me, it’s … this is what I think I’m worth. And obviously I’m not going to ask for something that can be detrimental to our team. And I think we’ve seen that somewhat with just how teams have handled things with certain players across the league."
After dealing with holdouts over the last few offseasons, the 49ers' negotiations with Purdy were notably drama-free and now leaves the team with cap flexibility. Now that the 49ers have extended Purdy, George Kittle, and Fred Warner, the 49ers are without contract distractions, ideal for them as they shoot to rebound from a disappointing 6-11 2024 campaign.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Brock Purdy Explains Why $53 Million Was Target Number During 49ers Extension Talks.