Brock Purdy insisted “my mindset hasn’t changed” upon signing a five-year, $265 million contract extension this spring.
Others, however, may not think of the 49ers’ 25-year-old quarterback as a plucky underdog anymore.
By getting paid among the NFL’s top 10 quarterbacks, Purdy will be scrutinized more than ever, and the demands to snap the 49ers’ 30-year Lombardi Trophy drought will only intensify.
Pressure to win? Look, that comes with the job description. Especially with the 49ers, whether Purdy was taking his first snaps in 2022 after being the last player drafted – “Mr. Irrelevant” – or in 2024, after he led the team to the Super Bowl and passed for a franchise record 4,280 yards.
“Joe and Steve set that standard pretty high, right?” former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said, referring to former 49ers Hall of Fame quarterbacks Joe Montana and Steve Young, who helped fill the 49ers’ trophy case with five Super Bowl trophies. “They set it high for everybody who comes along.”
Ryan came heartbreakingly close to winning a Super Bowl with the Falcons in 2016, when current 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was his offensive coordinator. Ryan, a former league MVP, twice signed contract extensions over $100 million in his career, so he’s familiar with the spotlight intensifying as the bank account increases.
“It changes the questions you’re going to be asked,” Ryan said. “It changes perceptions. It changes the outside noise all the time. And frankly, it changes the locker room, too.
“There’s an expectation to elevate everything around you.”
Purdy won his first 10 regular-season starts, but he’s 13-13 since. That, however, excludes the almighty playoffs, where he’s best judged.
In 2022, he won two playoff games before an injured elbow derailed the 49ers in the NFC title game at Philadelphia. A year later, he led the 49ers to the NFC crown with comeback wins over Green Bay and Detroit before an overtime loss in the Super Bowl to Kansas City.
The 49ers missed the playoffs last season.
“I’m so happy for him. He’s been playing so well the last three years, and he deserves it,” said Sam Darnold, Purdy’s backup in 2023 and now the starter with the division rival Seattle Seahawks. “He has such a good head on his shoulders. He’s going to continue to keep the main thing the main thing. The best quality Brock has is he’ll continue to be himself, no matter what.”
Purdy’s payday came with the endorsement of QB standard-bearer Montana, who said: “I mean, it’s not like he hasn’t done the job. He’s been fairly consistent. He had a lot of injuries. Those are all tough to deal with.”
San Francisco 49er starting quarterback Brock Purdy (13) practices alongside apparent No. 2 quarterback Sam Darnold (14), Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023, in Santa Clara, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Last season, the 49ers withered through a 6-11 season amid myriad twists and turns. But their faith never wavered in Purdy, nor did the expectation he’d receive a huge payday once he became eligible after last season. Purdy’s salary last season, including a performance bump, was $985,000, less than what almost every backup quarterback in the league was paid.
“His expectations are always going to be high for himself, and it’s always going to be more each year,” fullback Kyle Juszczyk said. “But we expect Brock to do what he’s been doing.”
Ryan echoed that, and he speaks from firsthand experience in the Shanahan system in Atlanta. Ryan, the No. 3 overall pick in 2008, received extensions from Atlanta in 2013 ($104 million) and 2018 ($150 million).
“It didn’t change me, though. It didn’t change the way I’m going to work,” Ryan recalled. “If I need to change because of what you’re paying me, I wasn’t doing it right prior to this.
“I’ve always felt they’re not going to pay you if they want you to be different than what you are. They want you to be the best version of what you can be. I think there’ll be no issue with a guy like Brock. Also, it’s the going rate.”
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) walks the sideline during the third quarter of their NFL preseason game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 30-23. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Former Washington quarterback Joe Theisman framed Purdy’s plight in a different light.
“Now the pressure really gets on him: ‘Can you earn the dollars?’ You earned the opportunity to get it. Now can you earn the dollars?” Theisman said. “That’s really where it falls. But I’m thrilled for Brock. I think the 49ers will bounce back this year.”
In the Super Bowl two seasons ago, Purdy pushed the 49ers into late leads via field-goal drives, and they still became the first team to lose a Super Bowl after leading in the fourth quarter and overtime.
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Justin Reid was a Chiefs safety in Super Bowl LVIII when he watched Purdy rally the 49ers twice in the second half of the eventual overtime loss. He’s a Purdy advocate.
“He deserves a lot more credit. He had two guys come before him, in Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance, and they’re playing in the same system and they didn’t execute at the level he does,” Reid said. “He’s not the biggest guy. He doesn’t have all the sexy traits or whatever. But at the end of the day, this is a production business, and he gets the job done.
“When we were game planning for the Super Bowl,” Reid added, “our coordinator (Steve) Spagnuolo had the utmost respect for him and his craft.”
The 49ers do, too. That is why they invested the biggest contract in their history into the quarterback they took No. 262 overall just three years ago.
