49ers’ Jed York calls Brock Purdy’s upcoming extension a ‘good problem’

Brock Purdy is one of the lowest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL, but that won’t be the case for much longer.

The San Francisco 49ers quarterback is eligible for an extension next offseason, likely putting him in line for a major payday. But the 49ers seem to be OK with giving Purdy a large bump in pay.

“It’s a good problem when your quarterback is one of the highest-paid guys on your team and in the league,” 49ers CEO Jed York told reporters at the NFL’s league meetings on Tuesday.

Purdy’s status as a seventh-round pick on his rookie deal puts his salary in one of the lowest percentiles of players in the league. He had a $705,000 salary when he was a rookie in 2022. His salary was still less than a million last season, sitting at $870,000 as he helped the 49ers reach the Super Bowl.

Purdy’s cap hit will clear the $1 million mark in 2024 ($1.004), but his salary is still less than that ($985,000), meaning he will earn less than the majority of backup quarterbacks. His salary currently ranks 54th among all quarterbacks in 2024, per OverTheCap, but his ranking will likely drop several spots following the draft.

Obviously, Purdy’s production outmatches his rank in salary. He was fifth in passing yards (4,280), third in passing touchdowns (31), first in yards per attempt (9.9) and first in passer rating (113.0) last season. York recognized that if Purdy has similar production next season, he’ll need a salary that reflects his standing among the quarterbacks in the league.

“It’s what the market is. Brock is going to ask for something that no one has ever asked for before,” York said. “I don’t know how many players are making over $40 million [annually] as a quarterback right now.”

Twelve quarterbacks currently have salaries north of $40 million. But if the 49ers are willing to give Purdy an extension, they might need to bump his pay by more than $50 million per year.

Why Brock Purdy is simply a more efficient Jimmy Garoppolo

When several quarterbacks signed extensions and new deals during the 2023 offseason, four of them ended up signing deals with salaries above $50 million. Joe Burrow, who was the last quarterback of the group to sign an extension, agreed to a five-year, $275 million deal that gives him the highest salary in the league at $55 million.

At the time of his extension, Burrow had just led the Cincinnati Bengals back to the AFC Championship Game following a Super Bowl appearance the year prior. Purdy’s 49ers teams have had similar finishes to Burrow’s Bengals squads in the first few seasons of their respective careers, so it isn’t entirely far-fetched to think that Purdy could earn more as the NFL’s salary cap continues to rise.

York seemed to imply that the decision on whether to make Purdy one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the league will come down to general manager John Lynch, head coach Kyle Shanahan and executive vice president of football operations Paraag Marathe, saying, “they’re the ones that are going to figure out the details of it, and I just have to sign the check.”

But the 49ers haven’t had an issue dishing out major money to quarterbacks in the past. They gave Jimmy Garoppolo a five-year, $137.5 million deal, which was the largest for a quarterback at the time.

York said he’s ready to possibly do the same thing again.

“When we signed Jimmy several years ago, it was the largest deal in the history of the NFL, for three minutes,” York said. “But Jimmy was at [$27.5 million]. That’s what the market is, and you have to accept the reality of the world.

“To me, the quarterback is the most important position not just in football, but all of sports, and those guys should be paid a lot of money.”