SANTA CLARA — Brock Purdy didn’t make a grand entrance with dollar bills raining from the ceiling and E-40’s “Niner Gang” anthem bumping as walk-up music.
Instead, Purdy shuffled into Levi’s Stadium auditorium with a red 49ers’ hoodie complemented by black sweatpants and white sneakers from Adidas, his loyal brand since his 2022 arrival as the NFL Draft’s “Mr. Irrelevant.”
The face of the 49ers’ franchise, essentially from December 2022 through contractually the next six seasons, also came with neatly parted hair and nary a whisker around his 25-year-old smile.
Purdy, minus any entourage or even the 49ers’ hierarchy, met the media Wednesday to humbly and graciously discuss the richest contract in team history, a five-year extension worth up to $265 million.
Brock Purdy speaks during a press conference about his new contract at Levi’s Stadium Auditorium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
“I always had faith. They started with a very respectable first offer, and from there the communication with my agent was great,” Purdy said. “There was no drama involved. All those moments added up to where I had faith it’d get done and these guys had my back.
“Last week we knew we were at the number and just had to get a couple of things figured out in the language of the contract. And it was a go.”
It was on Olympic Club’s Lake Course when he learned the much-anticipated, long-promised deal and fielded general manager John Lynch’s FaceTime call..
Purdy was playing alongside his wife, Jenna, as well as center Jake Brendel and his wife, Zan. Brendel relayed in a Wednesday text message that both he and his quarterback were playing well “but once we got the good news, our minds were on other things.” They finished the round after turning to a scramble format to speed up their celebration.
Now Purdy can afford membership to the Olympic Club and any other trappings befitting the NFL’s seventh-highest paid quarterback. He can also splurge on a bass-fishing boat he’s been eyeing.
Pleasantries aside, are the 49ers going to write checks that Purdy’s body can’t cash?
His establishment as a franchise quarterback hasn’t come without injury issues, though he proclaimed himself 100 percent healthy midway through the 49ers’ offseason program, with organized team activities starting next week.
Brock Purdy speaks during a press conference about his new contract at Levi’s Stadium Auditorium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Purdy has missed only two starts since assuming the 49ers’ quarterback throne Dec. 4, 2022, when he replaced an injured Jimmy Garoppolo (who replaced an injured Trey Lance months earlier in the home opener).
Not quite two years ago, Purdy was just starting to throw with a surgically repaired elbow, having undergone an InternalBrace procedure that fast-tracked his return from the ulnar collateral ligament tear in the 2022 season’s NFC Championship Game at Philadelphia. His recovery went so well, he broke the 49ers’ single-season record with 4,280 passing yards and delivered them tantalizingly close to a Super Bowl triumph before falling in overtime to Kansas City.
Purdy added to his medical file last season, with a right-shoulder injury forcing him to skip the Nov. 24 loss at Green Bay. On Dec. 30 against the Lions in the 49ers’ home finale, he suffered a right-elbow “contusion with nerve inflammation,” thus benching him through the ensuing season finale at Arizona.
“My body feels great, really healthy and 100 percent,” Purdy said. “I’m just finding ways to get better with the new guys on the field as much as we can right now.”
Two months ago, a wave of nearly 20 free agents left the 49ers in an exodus Purdy said he’s still trying to comprehend. Top-tier talent still surrounds him — running back Christian McCaffrey, tight end George Kittle, left tackle Trent Williams — but Purdy explained the stark contrast from a year ago.
“This year there was time to decompress and do some real reflection,” Purdy said. “Last year, there was the Super Bowl, then I got married, and boom, we were in the next season.
“Man, I was itching to come back (a month ago), with the energy and mindset of guys,” Purdy added. “There’s a new kind of re-energized feeling around the facility.”
Brock Purdy speaks during a press conference about his new contract at Levi’s Stadium Auditorium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Purdy’s durability and resiliency repeatedly have been tested since first start, when he sustained a rib fracture en route to a win over Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Dec. 11, 2022. Purdy rallied up in the nick of time to make his first road start four days later in Seattle, and he won his first seven starts overall until that injury-marred loss at Philadelphia.
That remarkable 2023 season didn’t pass without more health issues. He was put in the NFL’s concussion protocol following the flight back from a Week 7 loss at Minnesota (he started the next game six days later, a loss to Cincinnati). Come December, Purdy found himself coping with his first nerve stinger to his neck and shoulder region, an injury that sidelined him for only a few snaps in his native Arizona but a similar injury forced him out of the ensuing game, a Christmas night loss to Baltimore.
His team-record contract doesn’t change his job description: “My job is to go win games and lead this team.”
Included in the contract are $165 million in guarantees through the first three seasons. There also is a no-trade clause, to which he said: “It’s important, yes, but also that’s something my agent (Kyle Strogin) and I discussed with what other quarterbacks around the league have. But to me, was it a determining factor? No. Everything else the contract entails we’re extremely excited about.”
As for not re-setting the market or making more than the six quarterbacks ahead of him, Purdy insisted he wanted to work with the 49ers, that “It’s not just for me to get all the money, as much I can, but also, ‘Hey, let’s surround yourself with a great team and players and a great locker room. All those things mattered.”
Purdy believes the 49ers are “happy” as well with a contract that was finalized Tuesday. His string of thank-you notes began with God and Jesus Christ, then through to his family, his agent, and the 49ers’ hierarchy, namely the York ownership, coach Kyle Shanahan, general manager John Lynch, and contract negotiators Paraag Marathe and Brian Hampton.
Said Purdy: “For them to have my back and believe in me to lead this franchise and organization, I really appreciate them all. So, with that being said, let’s go.”
Originally Published: May 21, 2025 at 2:50 PM PDT