The Brock Purdy negotiations in the Bay area are, thankfully, over. The parties involved have found the common ground needed to strike a deal that keeps Purdy under contract with the San Francisco 49ers for potentially an additional five seasons at the cost of $265 millions dollars. There’s no such thing as small money when you’re talking about franchise quarterback contracts and the 49ers have left little doubt on whether or not they believe they indeed have a franchise quarterback.
Coming to terms on a blockbuster contract like this one does, undoubtedly, require certain concessions from both parties. It isn’t often that a team or a player walks into negotiations and gets everything that they ask for. But what are the winning points for each side of this particular deal? Both Purdy and San Francisco should feel good about certain points of data on this contract as the sides move forward in the months and years ahead.
Purdy’s Annual Average Salary & Records Set
The headline for Brock Purdy is obvious — a 5-year, $265 million contract extension gives Purdy the fifth-highest total value contract in the league right now. That is a public win for Purdy and his agent Kyle Strongin of Range Sports. The facts that hit NFL insiders’ desks first is usually meant to serve as the biggest headline win that the player and his representation can hang their hat on. That’s true in this case, as the headline of the reports on Friday were the raw dollars involved.
Based on the currently reported numbers, no other element of this contract ranks in the top five in the league — that’s where many of the 49ers’ wins in this negotiation reside. But among contracts in the history of the San Francisco 49ers franchise, none tops this one that Purdy will put pen to paper on. It’s the biggest deal the franchise has ever handed out. That should be considered a viable win for Purdy.
So, too, should the record he now holds among 7th-round draft choices. No 7th-round pick in NFL history has received a contract in total value that comes close to Purdy’s $265 million mega-deal. He's lapped the field threefold.
These are all meaningful “wins” for Purdy and his camp from a financial perspective, particularly against the backdrop of calls in the spring for San Francisco to “hardball” the quarterback. And there may be more wins coming for Purdy depending on the details of the team’s signing bonus, which are expected to give Purdy an exponential raise for the 2025 season.
Another win Purdy can claim in these negotiations is the revelation that the 49ers granted him a full "no-trade clause" in his contract. Such a concession by San Francisco helps ensure that, no matter what the future holds for Purdy, he'll have protections.
San Francisco Staves Off Salary Growth Amid Cap Inflation
From the 49ers side of the fence, getting Purdy to lock in on a contract extension that is equal to or less than some of the big contracts from last offseason is a win in and of itself, considering that the salary cap is nearly $25 million higher this year. Purdy’s annual average salary of new money checks in at $53 million, which ties him with Jared Goff for the 7th-highest of active contracts in the NFL. That could be considered a win for Purdy, but not when foiled against Goff and Tua Tagovailoa signing within the past 16 months on a lower salary cap for equal or higher annual average value. The same can be said for Trevor Lawrence and Jordan Love inking extensions last offseason that averaged $55 million annually on the new years of the deal.
As a matter of fact, when you look at Purdy’s $53 million annual average as a percentage of this year’s $279.2 million salary cap, the investment is, on average, 18.98% of this year’s cap. That mark for a contract ranks 14th among NFL quarterback contracts — nearly five full percent behind the top contract in that regard, which was Joe Burrow’s $55 million annual average signed against a cap year with a ceiling of $224.8 million back in the fall of 2023.
Annual Average Salary % Of Cap Rankings
- Joe Burrow - 24.47% of cap at signing
- Dak Prescott - 23.49%
- Justin Herbert - 23.35%
- Lamar Jackson - 23.13%
- Patrick Mahomes - 22.70%
- Jalen Hurts - 22.69%
- Kyler Murray - 22.14%
- Deshaun Watson - 22.09%
- Jordan Love - 21.53%
- Trevor Lawrence - 21.53%
- Tua Tagovailoa - 20.79%
- Jared Goff - 20.75%
- Josh Allen - 19.70%
- Brock Purdy - 18.98%
The investment, relative to the salary cap, is a friendly price point for the 49ers. So, too, is his reported fully guaranteed at signing figure. The initial reporting posts Purdy’s total in guarantees at $181 million but some of that figure appears to be guaranteed for injury only. Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area is reporting that $100 million is fully guaranteed at the time of signing.
If that dollar amount is exact, it will rank 12th among contracts in the amount fully guaranteed when the pen hits the paper. Jordan Love, with 18 starts to his name last offseason, signed a $55 million per year deal that had $100.8 million fully guaranteed; that ranks 11th currently. Tagovailoa’s $53.1 million per year deal fully guaranteed just $93.171 million in total value — equal to his first two years of the contract. That dollar amount currently ranks 12th overall.
Why does this matter? Because it serves as the potential exit ramp for San Francisco if either Purdy goes belly up in this new build or if a unique upgrade opportunity presents itself to the 49ers unexpectedly. No one makes a quarter of a billion dollar deal expecting to find the replacement within two years or intending to take the exit ramp off the contract — but wise teams build these contingencies into their futures to maintain flexibility. The fact that San Francisco was able to assure themselves that peace of mind is a win for the franchise.
Negotiations on this deal came together at a friendly pace. Some, such as Tagovailoa or Burrow, saw their extensions stretch into training camp. It bodes well for the 49ers and Purdy that these contract details came together before the calendar flipped to June — an apparent indication that both of these sides did indeed get a number of the “wins” that they were looking for at the negotiating table.
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