Purdy's Time Is Up in San Francisco

For the last three seasons the San Francisco 49ers have gotten a star quarterback, wholesale. Now it is time to give Brock Purdy an extension. The problem is the 49ers are at least acting like they're going to have to gut their entire team to make it happen.

San Francisco has already jettisoned key players to create cap space to sign Purdy for the long-haul. (Or to just trigger a "Blow It Up'' rebuild for 2026.) Purdy, who led the 49ers to a Super Bowl two seasons ago, will be looking for the going rate of top-flight starting quarterbacks. 

The fact is, he deserves it

Playing under his rookie contract at salaries around $1 million per season, Purdy has earned the right to be in the same price range as Joe Burrow or Trevor Lawrence. He should be making in excess of $50 million per season as an annual average value.

Purdy has accomplished what Burrow has in that they both took their teams to a Super Bowl. Lawrence has accomplished nothing, and still got the big bag. Now it is time for Purdy to get his.

And then of course there is the Dak Prescott comp in Dallas, where the Cowboys pay him $60 million per year and are still waiting for that bang for their Jerry Jones buck.

Can the 49ers pay Purdy without having to get rid of players like Christian McCaffrey?

They can.

Do they want to?

They evidence suggests they're not very thrilled about it.

So, what should the 49ers do? 

If you do want to rebuild but you don't think this QB is worth the big bucks ...

You should trade Purdy to a quarterback-starved team who cannot get one in the draft ... and stockpile money and assets and rebuild.

San Francisco is a once-proud franchise that generally accepts nothing short of an appearance in the NFC Championship Game. They failed to make the playoffs last year and the arrow is pointing down.

A new direction? It's about either paying or trading Purdy.