Hot-take artist offers shockingly reasonable assessment of 49ers’ Brock Purdy problem

The San Francisco 49ers will have a decision to make about Brock Purdy. General manager John Lynch already said the 49ers are committed to Purdy long-term — the question becomes what is the number they’re going to settle on. 

Purdy will try and squeeze out as much money as possible — as he should. But the 49ers should hesitate to pay him an exorbitant amount of money, because he hasn’t earned market value for the quarterback position. 

NBC’s Chris Simms made a point that Purdy, while leading the 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance in 2023, hasn't quite been that talented quarterback that has warranted a massive contract. 

His biggest problem isn’t what he does on the field. It’s simply being on the field. Simms brought up a very reasonable comparison to Tua Tagovailoa. The Miami Dolphins paid him a lucrative contract and when it mattered most, Tua was out with an injury. 

Purdy is trending down that same path. And the 49ers have to be careful throwing too much guaranteed money to a player who's just not reliable when it matters, whether that's Purdy's fault or not. 

Brock Purdy is going to a much deserved pay day, the 49ers just can’t overpay

The biggest point Simms made when talking with Mike Florio is that Baker Mayfield is earning $30 million with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and he’s proven how talented he is. 

Yes, the 49ers have won with Purdy, but it’s also a system that is built around weapons. What quarterback wouldn’t thrive with Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and one of the best defenses in the NFL. 

Purdy hasn’t done anything to justify paying him as much as Joe Burrow or Lamar Jackson. San Francisco doesn't want to be like the Dolphins, who overpaid for Tagovailoa, or the Cleveland Browns, who traded for Deshaun Watson and are now stuck with his contract. 

They paid Deshaun Watson a ridiculous amount of money and he’s played 19 games over three seasons — on top of that, Watson is likely going to miss all of the 2025 season. 

San Francisco should pay Purdy, but they should caution how much they cough up to keep him. If he’s too expensive, it may be worth going the cheap route and draft another player with a low ceiling or take a gamble in free agency. 

The 49ers are no strangers to making quarterbacks look better than they are. Remember Jimmy Garrapolo? He’s been irrelevant since he lost the Super Bowl back in 2019.

Purdy’s down season could be a sign the 49ers don’t have to throw away money to keep him. And if he costs too much, let another team take the risk. 

But Purdy hasn’t done enough to justify a max contract. And the 49ers have to avoid being desperate. It could haunt them for a long time.

They’ve already thrown money around at Aiyuk and he didn’t play this season and McCaffrey who missed pretty much the entire season too. They can’t afford to make that same mistake with Purdy.