Do 49ers Signing Clues Tie Purdy to Kittle?

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has been seeking a new deal since the start of the offseason. … and the decision - one way or the other - is the centerpiece of this franchise’s offseason decision-making process.

To his credit?

The former seventh-round franchise quarterback is 23-13 as a starter and has had plenty of playoff success (a 4-2 record) over his first three years.

The debate? The 49ers have to decide if he’s a $50 million APY player … or $60 million?

What is the right APY number for their quarterback?

But there is another number issue that is crucial here …

Structure.

PFT is noting three aspects of tight end George Kittle’s new four-year extension worth $76.4 million that could serve as “clues” as to what GM John Lynch might be trying to do with Purdy.

Per PFT: "Kittle’s deal has two fully-guaranteed years at signing. That creates a fairly obvious expectation that Purdy will have two fully-guaranteed years, too. ... Kittle has a small full guarantee at signing in year three ... and Kittle’s deal has an unrealistic final year that drives the new-money APY from $18 million to a record-setting (for tight ends) $19.1 million.''

PFT theorizes that the 49ers are trying to get those three factors into Purdy’s new deal.

Our take? It's a theory.

Despite Purdy's overall success, the 49ers struggled to a 6-11 season last year. Should that count against their starting quarterback?

San Francisco just locked up Kittle to a deal with a $19.1 annual average. … that is set to make him the highest-paid players at his position ever.

Kittle, by the way, sat out of voluntary workouts for a moment.

Purdy did not.

Should that factor in to any of this?

The 49ers want to reward and retain the quarterback here. The debate with Purdy about whether you pay over $50 million per year is one issue.

And structure is another part of the debate … clues and all.