Brock Purdy has been compared and contrasted to some of the best quarterbacks in the NFL since emerging from Mr. Irrelevant to a bonafide starter, and now, so is his looming 49ers contract.
While the numbers will continue to be debated, NFL Media's Mike Garafolo believes Purdy's annual salary could come close to that of Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, who earns an average annual salary of $60 million.
"Now if you go back over the last five years or so and you see the quarterback deals that were done, the average per year is usually anywhere from 21 to 25 percent of the salary cap. If it's on the low end of that, he's going to clear guys like Trevor Lawrence," Garafolo explained on NFL Network's "The Insiders" on Thursday. "Now he's not going to get to Dak Prescott's number of 60. But he'll be in the high 50s.
"If he really wants to push it to Joe Burrow, who took the biggest chunk of the salary cap, that's like $68 million per year. I don't get the sense that Brock Purdy wants to go there, because that's going to hurt the team's ability to do other things. But he wants his respect and he wants money that's in line with those other quarterbacks."
The 49ers want to reward Purdy, who led the team to consecutive NFC Championship games and one Super Bowl over the past three years, while also being cautious with their financial flexibility.
Prescott signed a four-year, $240 million contract extension with Dallas last September, including $231 million in guaranteed money, and the team recently restructured his contract, creating $36.6 million in salary cap space.
Purdy could be tempted to leverage Prescott’s contract as a benchmark for his own worth.
San Francisco 49ers
"I don't see this getting done until Brock Purdy and the 49ers agree on a number that's close to Dak Prescott," Garafolo continued. "Not all the way there, but close to Dak Prescott. Purdy saying that's fair, and also gives the team and John Lynch the opportunity to do things elsewhere on the roster."
From The Insiders on @nflnetwork: Based on recent QB contract extensions in relation to the salary cap, Brock Purdy has a strong case to make for a deal that comes close to Dak Prescott’s $60 million per year. pic.twitter.com/7T2wfz21kf
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 21, 2025
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After a series of free-agency losses, the 49ers' next big thing remains locking up their quarterback.
When that happens remains unknown, but Garafolo anticipates it's coming.
"John Lynch knows what's coming. And it's that Brock Purdy deal that at some point is going to happen his offseason," he said. "I know he was the last pick in the draft, you may have heard about it. I know it's a system that people think, 'Oh you just plug a quarterback in.' Oh really? They tried to do that with a couple guys and it didn't work as well as it has with Purdy.
"So Purdy's going to look at this and say, 'I need to be paid like one of the top quarterbacks in the league.' "
