49ers QB Brock Purdy's Contract Extension is Frontloaded

He better be worth the money.

Dec 22, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) looks for a passing option against the Miami Dolphins during the first quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Details about Brock Purdy's five-year, $265 million contract extension with the 49ers are starting to trickle in.

The full details aren't out just yet. We don't know his exact salary cap hits from 2025 to 2030 -- we will in a few days. But Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer knows some of the details, and they're surprising.

Quarterback contracts often are backloaded and artificially inflated with big cap hits that aren't guaranteed. Not Purdy's.

"The contract has $165.05 million in new money over the first three new years, which edged out a metric Jared Goff’s deal in Detroit hit last year," writes Breer. "That means he’ll get $170.14 million over the first four years of the contract (2025 to ’28). Goff’s deal was an important comparison because both sides saw it as one that didn’t break records, but did well by the player in many different ways.

"He gets $215 million in new money over the first four new years, which means he’ll make $220.3 million over the first five years of the contract.

"That leaves $50 million in 2030, the final year of the six-year, $270.346 million contract, which essentially tells you this isn’t a heavily back-loaded deal with a bloated number at the end to make it look prettier—something Purdy’s camp wanted to avoid. By comparison, he’ll make $55.05 million in ’28 and $49.95 million in ’29.

"Purdy gets 62% of his money in the first three years, which tops the cashflow in most of the richer quarterback contracts done."

It sounds like Purdy's extension essentially is a three-year deal that's worth more than $55 million per season. So it's shorter than it seems but also more expensive than it seems, particularly for the first three years. If Purdy isn't worth the money, I'm guessing the 49ers will be able to release him in 2029. But they won't be able to trade him -- they gave him a full no-trade clause.

So if Purdy gets injured for a month and one of his backups shows that he can run the offense as well or better than Purdy for a fraction of the price, which is what Purdy did three years ago, they can't flip him for picks.

He better be worth the money.