49ers George Kittle Shuts Down Brock Purdy Criticism

Sarcastically, Kittle said: "I'm so sorry that the 49ers aren't the centerpiece of some drama this year for the NFL media to talk about..."

After a brief chat about the offseason, the All-Pro Kittle did find one hint of controversy that has floated around the internet since Purdy's massive new deal.

Is he worth the money?

Some pundits have found talking points in discrediting Purdy's success and arguing whether or not he deserves that hefty salary.

Kittle declared his side in hopes of shutting down the criticism.

"I would say ... when you win a lot of games, and in then in two years you go to the NFC Championship Game or better, I think that's decent," Kittle said, again with a hint of sarcasm.

A main argument from the anti-Purdy crowd is that he only finds success because he fits into a prolific system like Kyle Shanahan's and doesn't have the chance to mess up. Kittle had a response for that, too.

“One of my favorite things about Purdy is that everyone calls him a checkdown merchant and then like the last two years he’s had the least amount of checkdowns in the NFL as a starting quarterback,” Kittle said. “Yeah, so I think he’s doing pretty well.”

Last year may have been a slightly down season statistically for the 25-year-old signal caller, but he still managed to lead an offense that ranked fourth in passing yards per game at nearly 250 a night.

Kittle was correct in his rebuttal of Purdy's alleged habit of throwing to checkdown routes. Last year, according to PFF, Purdy had the second-lowest checkdown rate in the NFL at just 7.2 percent.

Purdy threw for 3,864 yards with 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. A lot of that production came without Aiyuk during the second half of the year and in only four games with Christian McCaffrey in the backfield.

We think he's doing pretty fine, but with those weapons back - and an average annual income of $53 million - Purdy must still prove his worth on the field.

The largest determination of his "worth" may be the win column, which didn't do his camp many favors in 2024.