You’ll likely hear from time to time this year that 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, at $985,000, is criminally underpaid. Absent one key fact, that’s horribly misleading.
By rule, the 49ers can’t give him another contract until the completion of the 2024 regular season.
For now, Purdy is supplementing his six-figure salary in a seven- and eight-figure industry by marketing opportunities.
“Yeah, for me, obviously I don’t make a whole lot,” Purdy told reporters on Sunday. “I make a good amount playing football. But just with the lifestyle and the privacy for my wife and I and the things that we’re able to do with my family outside of football, we’ve got to make some kind of money somehow. So marketing’s a great opportunity for us. So, yeah, a business or an organization will hit up my agent and he’ll bring it to me and he’ll say, ‘Hey, this aligns with who you are and what you believe or this might not, so we can pass on it.’ So, those are the decisions that go into it. But for me, like I said, I’m trying to provide for my wife and my family moving forward with our life because you never know. Tomorrow’s not promised. So, we’ve tried to be smart about it, but there’s been some good opportunities this offseason and that’s why I’ve been able to do some.”
One of the reporters focused on one of the words he used: Privacy.
“Yeah, just security with our house, where we live and when we travel and stuff, being able to fly first class and do like those kinds of things,” Purdy said. “Ubers, the more expensive ones, where they are more private. I don’t know how to describe it, but I’m just thinking long-term for my wife and I. Yes, the privacy aspect, like with privacy comes expenses, and it’s a little bit more expensive with that kind of lifestyle. So that’s what I’m thinking of.”
He’s actually right. While the vast majority of Americans don’t make nearly $1 million per year, Purdy finds himself in a status that greatly exceeds his W-2. From travel to living arrangements to overall security, those costs aren’t as easily covered by $985,000 as they are by the current top of the market — $55 million.
It’s all the more reason for Purdy to, on one hand, focus entirely on doing his job to the best of his abilities and, on the other, counting the days until the 2024 regular season ends and he can sign a contract that will pay him what he deserves.
Once again, players on their rookie contracts can sign second deals after the conclusion of their third regular seasons. It can be done before a playoff game is played.
Given what happened to Purdy in the postseason two years ago, Purdy has every reason to tell his agent to begin laying the foundation now for a contract to be teed up and signed on Monday, January 7, 2025. And Purdy should be prepared to play hardball with the 49ers if they aren’t prepared to give him significant injury security before he takes the field in the playoffs, if the 49ers qualify again.