San Franciso 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has come a long way in three short years in the NFL. Once known as Mr. Irrelevant, Purdy is now a Pro Bowl QB who’s played in a Super Bowl and two NFC Championship games. Purdy is up for a contract extension that could come any day now. Still, not everyone is convinced he’ll continue to be the player San Francisco is banking on him being for the foreseeable future.
When asked about Purdy’s career, Dan Patrick gave an answer that surely won’t excite too many people in the Bay Area about where he thinks the former seventh-round pick goes from here.
"Worse. Got rid of Deebo. I think they put themselves in salary cap hell with Brandon Aiyuk's contract. How much longer does Williams play? George Kittle, how long does he play? McCaffrey, how long does he play? And then you have to go out and find (replace) those guys, and you also have a quarterback making 55 million dollars a year."
Dan Patrick was asked if Brock Purdy's career, from this point on, will get better or worse:
— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) April 2, 2025
"Worse. Got rid of Deebo. I think they put themselves in salary cap hell with Brandon Aiyuk's contract. How much longer does Williams play? George Kittle, how long does he play?… pic.twitter.com/5tmASmoWB4
Dan Patrick has a point about the 49ers and Brock Purdy
After the initial shock of that abrupt explanation wears off, take a minute to think about what Patrick laid out. Deebo Samuel is no longer a 49er. Trent Williams is 36 and appeared in just 10 games last season. George Kittle is a soon-to-be 32-year-old tight end whose better days could be numbered. Christian McCaffrey is almost 29 and has an extensive injury history and missed most of last season due to an injury.
Patrick also mentions Brandon Aiyuk’s big contract placing the Niners in “salary cap hell,” and he may not be far off. Then he missed more than half of the 2024 campaign with a torn ACL and MCL. Once the 49ers extend Purdy, they really could be in salary cap hell at that point with so much money tied up in their QB and WR.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan has been great at making the best of his situation in SF. Although they’ve had plenty of talent, there have been slip-ups, like drafting Trey Lance at No. 3 overall in 2021 and having him last with the team just two years. Then there was Jimmy Garoppolo and his big game mishaps. Jimmy G did win a lot of regular season games, but couldn’t make the big throws when it counted most for SF.
Purdy’s upside seems better than Garoppolo’s at this stage, but they both got the team to a Super Bowl and lost to the Kansas City Chiefs. Statistics aside, they’ve both taken the Niners to the same point. The thing about Purdy is we’ll get to see how he does when the Niners potentially have less talent in a couple of years due to some of the big contracts, including his. 49ers fans may not like what Patrick had to say, but he might not be wrong.