49ers QB Brock Purdy was 'heavily pursued' by another NFC team in 2022 NFL Draft

Minnesota quarterback Kirk Cousins and San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan worked together for two seasons with Washington from 2012-13, as the former was selected in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL Draft and the latter was the team's offensive coordinator from 2010-13. Cousins is now in his sixth season with the Vikings, after departing the nation's capital via free agency in March 2018, and Shanahan spent one year as the Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator and two in the same role with the Atlanta Falcons before landing his first lead role in the Bay Area ahead of the 2017 campaign.

Per Seifert and Wagoner, the 49ers contacted Washington in 2017 about potentially trading for the now-four-time Pro Bowl signal-caller, but nothing transpired.

After Minnesota signed Cousins to a contract extension in March 2022, according to the ESPN report, the organization "heavily pursued" Purdy in the "final hours" of that spring's NFL Draft and were looking to sign him to an undrafted free agent (UFDA) deal. Of course, that opportunity never came around, as San Francisco chose the Iowa State product as "Mr. Irrelevant" during the event.

According to Seifert and Wagoner, Purdy said recently that he was considering the Niners, Houston Texans and Vikings if he'd gone undrafted.

Purdy's ascension to the starting role and in some minds, a dark horse MVP candidate, over the last 10 months has been nothing short of miraculous.

San Francisco's starter leads his team into "MNF" action with a 5-1 record and a stat line that includes a 67.5 completion percentage for 1,396 passing yards, 10 touchdowns and one interception. Purdy enters the contest against Minnesota with a league-best 111.9 quarterback rating as well.