SANTA CLARA — As the 49ers enter Phase 2 of their voluntary offseason program, Brock Purdy keeps showing up for that and other team activities as his contract talks persist.
“We’re having really good, positive discussions,” general manager John Lynch said Monday on Chris Simms’ “Unbuttoned” podcast. “When it gets done? I’m not sure. Hope sooner than later, but hope is not a strategy. So we’re making progress. We’ve had good discussions.”
Purdy and almost all 49ers have taken part in the offseason program that begin two weeks ago. Rookie minicamp is this Friday and Saturday for the 49ers’ 11-man draft class, their six undrafted free agents who’ve signed, and others invited to audition such as Wake Forest quarterback Hank Bachmeier.
Purdy is entering the final year of his rookie contract and is expected to fetch 10 times more than his slated salary of $5.3 million. Purdy’s agent, Kyle Strongin, has not commented publicly on the contract negotiations, and he did not immediately return a message Monday from this news organization.
“I’m looking (at the practice field) because our players are starting to arrive for their day of work, and Brock is out there doing a tremendous job, as are all our players,” Lynch added. “After a year like (last season’s 6-11, last-place showing), it was important (to attend). Kyle (Shanahan) did a great job saying, ‘Guys when we built this thing, when we had our success, we had 99 percent of our guys here in the offseason. It’s voluntary. We can’t make you come. But it would be cool if everybody came. We had everybody but one player here when we kicked off.”
“Brock being here reinforces that because everybody knows who Brock is and he is a very social person in the locker room,” tight end George Kittle told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Jennifer Lee Chan. “His being around, getting to meet everybody, is just good for our team chemistry.”
Purdy also joined dozens of teammates at last weekend’s Golden Getaway fundraiser in Carmel Valley. He has not commented on his contract since the 49ers cleaned out their lockers four months ago.
The 49ers’ brass has insisted publicly all offseason that paying Purdy is their intention. Although they’ve committed the third-fewest dollars in free agency the past two months, Lynch noted: “At the end of this offseason we may be a top-two spending team.”
Last week, Kittle signed a four-year extension worth $19.1 million annually.
“Me and Brock have a lot of things in common: Two kids that came out of — no one really had high expectations for either of us, and we both exceeded those expectations,” Kittle added. “He kind of took a rocket ship a little bit faster than I did. Mine was over the course of several years. His was over the course of like six games.”
DRAFT’S CONTINGENCY PLAN
The 49ers may have used their first five draft picks on defensive players — as did the Arizona Cardinals, the Buffalo Bills and the Philadelphis Eagles — but they had an offensive player on deck if defensive end Mykel Williams wasn’t available at No. 11 overall.
“I don’t like talking about guys that we didn’t take, but I will tell you that, yes, we did go five consecutive defensive players,” Lynch said. “But if Mykel wasn’t there, it likely would have been an offensive player.”
Fearing that Williams might go to the New Orleans Saints at No. 9, the 49ers tried in vain to trade up to No. 8 with the Carolina Panthers.
“With Mykel, we felt there was a good chance the Saints would take him. We ran into a situation, the one player was there – Kelvin Banks, a Texas guy, an offensive tackle – he’s the one guy, if not him, they would have taken Mykel,” Lynch added. “But Banks was there and they didn’t expect him to be there.”
Would the 49ers have taken Banks? Or were their offensive eyes set on someone else? The next offensive players drafted in the top 20 were guard Tyler Booker (No. 12, Dallas Cowboys), tight end Tyler Warren (No. 14, Indianapolis Colts), guard Grey Zabel (No. 18, Seattle Seahawks) and wide receiver Emeka Egbuka (No. 19, Tampa Bay Buccaneers).
Of the 10 draft picks preceding the 49ers’, eight were on offensive players: quarterback Cam Ward (No. 1, Tennessee Titans); wide receiver Travis Hunter (No. 2, Jacksonville Jaguars); offensive tackles Will Campbell (No. 4, New England Patriots), Armand Membou (No. 7, New York Jets) and Banks Jr. (No. 9, New Orleans Saints); running back Ashton Jeanty (No. 6, Las Vegas Raiders); wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (No. 8, Carolina Panthers); and tight end Colston Loveland (No. 10, Chicago Bears).
CLOSE CALL FOR COWING
Lynch, on Simms’ podcast, revealed something about the 2024 draft: the 49ers almost didn’t select wide receiver Jacob Cowing before their time expired at the end of Round 3. Lynch said Shanahan repeatedly polled the 49ers’ draft room as the final minute ticked away with them on the clock, and with either Cowing or an unidentified linebacker in their crosshairs. “It went down to 2 seconds and we got the pick in. That was the closest call we’ve ever had,” Lynch said.
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Jordan Magee was the next linebacker off the 2024 draft board, going in the fourth pick of of the fifth round to the Washington Commanders and Adam Peters, their first-year general manager who had just left the 49ers. Other linebackers to go that round: J.D. Bertrand (Falcons), Tommy Eichenberg (Raiders), Jeremiah Trotter Jr. (Eagles) and Edefuan Ulofoshio (Bills). The 49ers’ linebacker depth was scarce last season, while Cowing served as their primary punt returner.
