PHOENIX – The ever-clever Jim Harbaugh, donning a Chargers polo shirt and clear-framed glasses, sat at a roundtable with reporters and mused about a quarterback in his mid-20s.

“He’s at that age — that’s the fat part of the bat for a quarterback,” Harbaugh, the 49ers’ 2011-14 coach, said Tuesday at the NFL annual meeting in a Biltmore Resort ballroom.

The quarterback Harbaugh spoke of was Trey Lance, the 49ers’ 2021 NFL Draft bust who’ll be 26 this season as the Chargers’ backup again to Justin Herbert.

Barely five months older than Lance is Brock Purdy, the 49ers’ 2022 NFL Draft savior.

It’s Purdy who is truly set up for a prime season, including a game against Harbaugh’s Chargers at SoFi Stadium. Adding wide receivers Mike Evans and Christian Kirk to coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense should serve Purdy well in his fifth year.

“He’s a great player, a tremendous competitor. He’s a winner,” Harbaugh said of Purdy.

This time last year, Purdy’s contract talks were, well, the talk of the NFL annual meeting from a 49ers’ perspective. By mid-May, Purdy secured a five-year, $265 million contract, the 49ers’ richest deal ever.

“I love Brock. He’s a very special person and a damn good football player, the way he layers the football, the way he moves in the pocket with his off-schedule stuff, and his calm demeanor,” said Robert Saleh, who left the 49ers’ defensive coordinator role to become the Tennessee Titans coach this year.

“I don’t want to say ‘underrated.’ He’s loved in San Francisco,” Saleh added. “I know Kyle loves him. He’s deserving of everything he’s got.”

Shanahan, at his 32-minute roundtable Monday morning, fielded only one Purdy-specific question, and his answer reflected a lasting affection for Purdy, whom he’ll reunite with when the offseason program opens April 20.

“We give him a plan when he comes in based off the film. We usually give him five things, then he starts in Phase 1 (of the offseason program),” Shanahan said. “Brock’s really fun that way, because he’s always humble and never takes it personally and usually fixes that stuff by training camp.”

Even though Purdy missed eight games because of a toe injury last season, he went 7-2 to help steer another playoff run that produced a wild-card win at Philadelphia before a 41-6 exit to eventual Super Bowl champion Seattle. Not only will Purdy have clips of his games to watch, Shanahan will replay how the offense looked under Mac Jones, who went 5-3 as a temp.

“We go pretty hard on every bad clip, give them soft compliments on the good clips, and he’s really good at taking it,” Shanahan said of Purdy, who grew up an hour southeast of here in Queen Creek.

Here are other nuggets to emerge from the NFL’s three-day summit in the desert:

MEXICO, WEEK 11

The 49ers’ game in Mexico City will be in Week 11, an NFL executive confirmed. Date and opponent are to be determined but the 49ers requested it be neither the Raiders nor the Broncos, while the Dolphins are a lead candidate, a league source said. Shanahan, perhaps half-jokingly, said on NBC Sports he requested the Rams, to return the favor of having to open against them in Australia.

If it’s a Sunday game, that would be Nov. 22, so not a December game as initially stated during Super Bowl week.

REVISITING LANCE

As for Lance’s NFL journey, he hasn’t thrown a touchdown since his 2021 rookie season. Having found Purdy as their starter, the 49ers traded Lance in 2023 to Dallas for a fourth-round pick, and he’s since started just two games – losing the 2024 and ’25 season finales for the Cowboys and Chargers, respectively.

“Super excited to have Trey for Year 2,” Harbaugh said. “Great guy, great pro, really great competitor and saw some real good development in him last year, and it continues.”

EVANS’ INSTANT IMPACT

Shanahan is still grinning big-time over the free agency poaching of Mike Evans, Tampa Bay’s all-time leading receiver from the past 12 seasons.

“Mike’s the man. I’ve been able to watch him for so long. To me, he’s definitely a Hall of Famer,” Shanahan said. “He’s as good as it gets in the way he plays. I’ve always just liked the competitor in Mike. … The fact he chose to come to us just for the football situation shows how important football is to this guy. We have a number of veterans.

“I love the thought of pairing him up with some of the guys that to me are playing for one reason — and that’s to try to get to the Super Bowl.”

COACHING UPHEAVAL

Ten teams tout new head coaches, and with Saleh the only minority among them, he was asked to speak on the NFL’s diversity hiring practices.

“I do know they’re working relentlessly to figure out the best way to do this,” Saleh said. “But I also know you look at ownership around the league and they’re going to do their best to hire the best people. Football is one of the greatest melting pots and an example to the world what an NFL locker room and coaching staff really looks like, with all the different demographics and mix of people.”

Shanahan had mixed feelings about again losing Saleh to a head-coaching role, stating: “He got a raw deal the first time (with the New York Jets, 2021-24) and it seems like he’s in a good situation. We hated losing him but I’m happy for him.”

SHANAHAN TREE

Mike LaFleur (Arizona), Klint Kubiak (Las Vegas) and Jeff Hafley (Miami) are former Shanahan assistants hired for their first head-coaching jobs. Meanwhile, DeMeco Ryans is entering his fourth season as Houston’s coach, after working his way up Shanahan’s staff over six years to defensive coordinator in 2021-22.

“From 2017, to see where a lot of those guys are now from a leadership position, it just speaks to Kyle Shanahan and the job he does, along with John Lynch and the staff they put together,” Ryans said.

LaFleur worked under Shanahan at three stops: Cleveland (2014), Atlanta (2015-16) and San Francisco (2017-20). “Mike’s a good dude who really knows football,” Shanahan said. “I’ve had a couple of them and he’s right there, as good as any of these guys. I really wish these good coaches would get the (heck) out of our division.”

LAS VEGAS ENCORE

The Super Bowl will return to Las Vegas for the 2030 season, seven years after the 49ers endured practice-field issues at UNLV before losing in overtime to the Chiefs at Allegiant Stadium.

“Vegas was tough because of the field we got put on (at UNLV). We got put on a different field,” Shanahan recalled. “It’s a different situation when one (team) is at UNLV in the middle of the city, being on the strip next to The Sphere, and one is 30 mintues out at the Raiders’ facility. That was a You’ve got to get lucky and be the home team so you get to pick.”

INJURY NEWS

Jeff Miller, the NFL’s executive vice president for player health and safety, stated Tuesday that anterior cruciate ligament tears were down to their lowest rate in seven years. ACL injuries, however, took out 49ers defensive ends Nick Bosa and Mykel Williams, the latter of whom suffered his at MetLife Stadium. Miller noted that, for the third straight season, there was no difference in injury rates between synthetic and natural grass surfaces, including MetLife.

In terms of mental health, it’s been recommended that teams switch from part-time clinicians to a full-time presence, with an added effort to assist “vulnerable” players such as those on injured reserve, away from team headquarters.

RULE CHANGES

Among the new rules for 2026: Replay officials in New York can remotely disqualify or signal a penalty on a player for actions not called on the field; mistakes made by potential replacement officials can be overturned, too; onside kicks are allowed at any time; and, players on the Physically Unable To Perform list can begin their 21-day practice window after Week 2, the latter of which could be notable if the 49ers place George Kittle (Achilles) on PUP.