INDIANAPOLIS — Brock Purdy, the quarterback who finished fourth in the NFL MVP voting, is the 34th highest-paid player on the 49ers.
But general manager John Lynch is quick to point out that it’s not his fault — nor is there anything he can do about it until after the 2024 NFL season.
“A lot of people get mad, like, ‘You’re being cruel to this guy; why don’t you give him something?’ ” Lynch said during an interview for the latest "49ers Talk." “We can’t. I’d love to.”
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Lynch began to joke that, if he could, he would take money out of his own pocket to pay Purdy a little more.
Then, he quickly reconsidered with a laugh, “Won’t do that.”
As the final pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Purdy's four-year contract was locked in to include minimum salaries and a signing bonus of $77,008.
Purdy is locked into a base salary of $985,000 for the upcoming season because the league’s collective bargaining agreement stipulates that drafted players are not allowed to have their contracts renegotiated until after their third NFL season.
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There are 16 quarterbacks in the NFL whose average salaries range from $30 million to Joe Burrow’s league-high of $55 million a year.
Lynch acknowledged the 49ers’ low financial commitment to Purdy has enabled the team to retain more higher-paid players at other positions.
“I think because of that, we’ve been able to build around him in such a way,” Lynch said. “And we’ve had a lot of good players. Fortunately, we drafted well and we’ve made some trades for players who are some of the best in the league.
“Now ... at some point you got to pay the piper. It’s going to come due.”
Trent Williams, Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, Nick Bosa, Arik Armstead, Javon Kinlaw, Fred Warner and Kyle Juszczyk are among the highest-paid players in the NFL at their respective positions.
Once the 49ers are able to pay Purdy a fair price, sacrifices likely will be made at other spots on the roster to remain under the league's salary cap.
“That’s why you always have to be planning a few years out,” Lynch said. “And we’re trying to toe that line between being very aggressive each year and also planning for the future such that there’s not a time, ‘All right, we got to blow this thing up.’
"We want to keep it together and have success now and into the future, and I think we have a good plan to do so.”
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