Making Brock Purdy the highest-paid player in 49ers’ history remains their intention, franchise owner Jed York insisted Tuesday amid a roster overhaul that reflects the “consequences” of their payroll shift.
“It’s a decision that we made, I can’t tell you exactly when, but midway through the season, that we want to make sure Brock is here for a long time,” York said at the NFL owners meetings to Bay Area reporters in Palm Beach, Fla.
“Again, you can’t pay somebody quarterback money and have all of the other talent around the way we had,” York continued. “Now we have to start filling that piece with the draft.”
While the 49ers’ offseason purge has seen eight starters and 19 players join other teams, paying Purdy remains atop their to-do list. Yet to be determined is how steep a cost and exactly when that contract extension is forthcoming, presumably ahead of the fourth and final year of his rookie deal.
“I feel good, and when he’s ready, we’ll sit down and finish it. It shouldn’t be that hard to do,” York said.
Purdy’s agent, Kyle Strongin, had kept negotiations private.
York dubbed Purdy a top-10 NFL quarterback, one who they committed at midseason last year to rewarding, presumably on a multi-year deal that crosses the $50 milion annual threshold of other top-10 quarterbacks.
“Especially when you combine him with Kyle (Shanahan) and you combine him with what we have, he’s a heck of a quarterback and want him to be here for a long, long time,” York said.
Shanahan, who spoke earlier Tuesday to reporters, expressed hope that Purdy would not hold out of the offseason program that begins in three weeks. “But these are negotiations that go on between agents and our organization and it’s over a lot of money,” Shanahan said. “Those aren’t things you just knock out right away. But I believe we will and hope we will, and hopefully it won’t come into any football stuff.”
As Shanahan and general manager John Lynch are entering their ninth season together, York’s confidence is so unwavering, he called them “the best GM-coach combination in the NFL. They are two guys I would rather work with than anybody else in the world.”
It’s no coincidence that Purdy’s eventual extension coincides with the 49ers’ roster contraction. That has led to concerns over the York family’s financial commitment. Told that critics are calling him cheap, York shrugged it off: “I’ve been called worse.”
York noted that his family owns 97% of the franchise, and they’re considering adding outside partners, reportedly as much as a 10% stake at a $9 billion valuation. “It’s more of a family conversation. My family owns 97 percent of the 49ers and it’s a big asset,” York said. “You have different family members that have different things they want to do in the team, around the team and outside of the team. It’s a family-asset allocation decision.
the 49ers’ payroll is a separate entity from outside interests, such as ownership in English soccer club Leeds United and the yet-to-be-finalized acquisition of the Glasgow Rangers.
Added York: “Those are completely separate from the 49ers, where we can tie brands together and take best practices of operating. In terms of financials, they don’t overlap at all.”
The biggest operating expense in player payroll is upcoming, for a player the 49ers found with the 2022 draft’s 262nd and final pick.
“When you find a top-10 quarterback that can help you continually win football games, you have to make that decision,” York added. “If you do that, it comes with consequences. I don’t know if we were the oldest team in the league last year but we were one of the oldest; we were one of the most-injured teams. You have to get younger and healthier and make sure you build around a core and that’s what we’re trying to do.”