How Geno Smith could impact 49ers' contract talks with Brock Purdy

It was said ahead of the start of the legal tampering portion of free agency that contract extension talks between the San Francisco 49ers and quarterback Brock Purdy "could get messy" if the two sides don't come to terms on an agreement sooner rather than later. 

During a Tuesday appearance on San Francisco sports radio station 95.7 The Game, NFL insider Benjamin Allbright of Denver radio station KOA explained how the Las Vegas Raiders' handling of Geno Smith could impact how much money Purdy wants attached to his deal. 

"I would say the impending Geno Smith deal is an...inflection point here because he's going to get $40-50M per year," Allbright said, as shared by David Bonilla of 49ers Webzone. "And I think Brock wants to be in or above that range, and I think that the Niners have been less willing to go to that number at this point."

While the Raiders recently agreed to acquire Smith from the Seattle Seahawks, Las Vegas hadn't yet locked the 34-year-old down beyond the 2025 season via an extension as of Wednesday morning. Smith is entering the final year of the three-year contract he signed in March 2023, and Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio suggested on Monday that Vegas could "wait to see whether Smith continues to perform for the Raiders the way he performed for the Seahawks" before the club pays the veteran. 

Smith earned NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award honors for the 2022 season but has a less impressive overall resume than what Purdy has built since he entered the NFL as the final pick of the 2022 draft. Purdy was a finalist for the 2023 regular-season Most Valuable Player Award, has played in two NFC Championship Games and was a fourth-down stop away from becoming a Super Bowl champion in February 2024. 

Thus, it's understandable Purdy's camp could demand that the 25-year-old be paid more than Smith. 

"It doesn't mean this won't be a thing that they work out," Allbright said about the 49ers-Purdy situation. "But the market is always going up, and so, if you don't get it done, then you're going to have to keep resetting your number because it's just going to keep going up."

Allbright added that "there's a significant gap between the amount of money that [Purdy] wants and the amount that [the 49ers] put in front of him." As individuals such as Tom Dierberger of Sports Illustrated and ESPN's Bill Barnwell pointed out, the 49ers seemingly made multiple decisions this offseason to clear out cash and salary-cap space to pay Purdy. 

Until a deal is signed, however, some understandably may wonder if people within the 49ers are worried that Purdy truly is more of a "game manager" than a game-changing player at the sport's most important position.