SANTA CLARA, Calif. — In April 2021, the San Francisco 49ers traded up to select quarterback Trey Lance No. 3 overall in the NFL draft. Lance was viewed as their future franchise signal-caller for the years to come.
The 49ers' goal was to have a quarterback on a rookie contract while using resources to build a dominant roster around the QB. The hope was that the pieces would equate to a Super Bowl championship.
As it turned out, the Niners did benefit from a rookie quarterback contract window. But it was Brock Purdy — not Lance — who became the team's starter a year later in 2022 and was playing for the relatively meager wages associated with being the last pick (Mr. Irrelevant) in the 2022 draft. Purdy led the 49ers to two NFC Championship Games, including one win, but the team failed to win its sixth Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl LVIII.
«We made him the last pick of the draft and it's served us well,» general manager John Lynch said.
Now, Purdy's rookie contract (that paid him an average of $853,333 per season) has ended, and he signed a five-year, $265 million contract, which includes $181 million in guarantees, that runs through the 2030 season. That makes Purdy the highest-paid player in franchise history — meaning San Francisco has reached the expiration date on the inexpensive-quarterback-plus-expensive-roster formula.
Though Purdy's early contract cap numbers figure to remain manageable, the Niners — for better or worse — are now in Purdy's hands. The days of Purdy being praised as one of the best bargains in sports are done, and it's up to him to deliver at a level commensurate with being the seventh highest-paid quarterback in the NFL (on a per-year basis).
Despite an avalanche of offseason roster changes after
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