The week started with the 49ers working on new contracts for two key players: tight end George Kittle and quarterback Brock Purdy.
Kittle’s deal is done. The details can be reviewed here. Given that the contract was finalized at a time when the 49ers are actively negotiating with Purdy, there are clues in Kittle’s contract as to how Purdy’s contract could be structured.
First, Kittle’s deal has two fully-guaranteed years at signing. That creates a fairly obvious expectation that Purdy will have two fully-guaranteed years, too.
Some quarterbacks get three fully-guaranteed years at signing on non-rookie deals. Some get two. Others (Matthew Stafford, Sam Darnold, Geno Smith, for instance), get one. By giving Kittle two fully-guaranteed years at a time when Purdy’s contract is being hashed out, common sense suggests the 49ers will be trying to use a similar structure for Purdy.
Second, Kittle has a small full guarantee at signing in year three (i.e., $2 million). He can, based on his performance in the second year (2026), unlock another $5 million in full guarantees for 2027.
Third, Kittle’s deal has an unrealistic final year ($22.4 million in 2029, when Kittle will turn 36) that drives the new-money APY from $18 million to a record-setting (for tight ends) $19.1 million.
If the 49ers are able to get those three factors in Purdy’s new deal, here’s how the contract may look.
First, he would have two fully-guaranteed years — 2025 and 2026 — at (not-so-wild guess) perhaps $90 million in full guarantees at signing and cash flow. (Not bad at all for the Mr. Irrelevant/Dr. Kevorkian of the 2022 draft, who has been paid by the 49ers a paltry $2.637 million through three total years of his rookie deal.)
Second, Purdy would have a small full guarantee in the third year at (not-so-wild guess) perhaps $10 million.
Third, he’d be able to unlock an even greater full guarantee for the third year based on not-unrealistic performance triggers at (not-so-wild guess) perhaps another $20 million. (There’s a chance the potential extra full guarantee in year three will be guaranteed for injury at signing. Kittle doesn’t have that.)
Then, the final year or two of the four- or five-year extension would have non-guaranteed salaries that would drive the new-money APY beyond $50 million and possibly into the top five of $55 million or more.
Let’s go with $55.1 million, which would put Purdy beyond everyone but Dak Prescott and Josh Allen in new-money APY. Let’s also assume a five-year extension. That’s $275.5 million. Throw in Purdy’s current 2025 salary of $5.346 million, and it becomes a six-year, $280.846 million contract.
The average at signing would be $46.8 million. Which is a far cry from $55.1 million. And, if the final year or two contains higher salaries (let’s go with $60 million in 2029 and 2030), it would really be a four-year, $160.846 million deal. Which equates to an average payout from signing of $40.2 million per year.
The broader point is this. It’s very easy to generate a new-money APY that will generate headlines and, in turn, good publicity for the agents who are hoping to parlay the representation of Purdy into more clients. It’s also very easy for the 49ers to grant that favor while also having a deal that isn’t nearly as valuable as $55.1 million per year.
That’s the very broad needle the 49ers may be trying to thread. Make the contract look great when it’s leaked to reporters and broadcast to the world without context or detail. By the time the contract is fully analyzed and valued, it can — and likely will — be something far more affordable for a team that clearly wants to keep Purdy in the fold for the foreseeable future.
In truth, the structure could give them the ability to abandon ship if Purdy stagnates or regresses, especially with a starting lineup that already looks far different than the one that went to the Super Bowl less than 15 months ago.
It’s a win-win. Purdy gets an eyebrow-raising contract, while the 49ers make a far more reasonable and rational commitment to a guy who objectively isn’t among the five (or, some would say, 10) best quarterbacks in the NFL.
