49ers cap flexibility: Why Brock Purdy's new deal prioritizes team success

While Brock Purdy's agent negotiated with the San Francisco 49ers, the salaries of other top NFL quarterbacks were naturally a key consideration. However, the 49ers made it clear early on that they weren't interested in resetting the quarterback market, meaning Purdy was never going to surpass Dak Prescott's $60 million annual salary.

Ultimately, both sides agreed to a five-year, $265 million extension, averaging $53 million per year. That figure ties Purdy with Jared Goff for seventh among NFL quarterbacks in annual salary. It's widely viewed as a fair deal for a franchise quarterback who has already led his team to considerable success in just three seasons.

Importantly for the 49ers, Purdy's cap hit will remain under $31 million through 2027, before rising to $57.6 million in 2028 and $72.5 million in 2029. This structure gives San Francisco added salary cap flexibility in the short term—and the option to restructure later, if needed, to ease the long-term financial burden.

While Purdy could have fought for more money, he chose instead to prioritize a quick resolution to the negotiations and avoid a lengthy offseason distraction, all while securing his own financial future.

"You have to find a middle ground within all of that," Purdy said during an interview on The TK Show with Tim Kawakami. "Obviously, I love this organization. We wanted to go about it in a very respectful manner, but at the same time, knowing what has happened the last couple of years, and what we can do together moving forward. We just wanted to be respected with the number that we got."

Though the new deal is a massive raise from his rookie contract, where he was one of the league's best bargains, Purdy believes the structure of the extension allows the 49ers to keep building a championship-caliber roster around him.

"And so, I thought the 53 number was awesome, and now, we can have a great team, great cap space to move things around," Purdy said, "and for them to do their thing, and continue to have guys around me to make plays, and go win together."

Despite potentially leaving some money on the table, Purdy isn't lobbying the front office on how to use the cap savings. He trusts general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan to make the right decisions needed to continue fielding a competitive roster.

"That's not my job," Purdy explained. "My job is, hey, I understand where we're at with the cap and all that, but for me, this is what I think I'm worth, and obviously, I'm not gonna ask for something that can be detrimental to our team. And I think we've seen that somewhat, with just how teams have handled some things with certain players across the league.

"And I just want to continue to be able to play with guys around me that we could all be a united team and win together. And I understand that's so important to win championships. And so I took that, and obviously, we all know, across the board, now we have some room to go and do what we can do, and get certain players, and all that."

You can listen to Purdy's entire interview below.