It appears the San Francisco 49ers' future at quarterback lies with Brock Purdy.
The Athletic's 49ers beat reporter Matt Barrows isn't so sure.
During an appearance on 95.7 the Game in San Francisco, Barrows told hosts Steiny and Guru about this quarterback Aaron Rodgers could be a route the 49ers take instead of extending Purdy in the off-season, as the other options are relatively poor.
“I don’t really know what the recourse would be,” Barrows said. “Are you playing hardball with Brock Purdy? Who else will be your quarterback? Do you want Brandon Allen to be your quarterback? Do you go out and sign Sam Darnold, who will be a free agent?
The only interesting possibility in New York is if things just fall apart with the Jets and suddenly Aaron Rodgers — a guy the 49ers have definitely been interested in in the past — becomes available.”
It's hard to imagine that San Francisco would still be as interested in Rodgers as they were three or four years ago, when his departure from Green Bay was imminent. His tenure in New York was marked by a catastrophic Achilles tendon injury and a worse start than under Zach Wilson. Not to mention that Rodgers isn't playing particularly well and turns 41 on December 2nd.
While they still haven't convinced Purdy, they could potentially let him play out the final year of his rookie contract before committing to a deal at or near the top of the market. The final pick in the 2022 draft is under contract through the 2025 season.
Rodgers is also under contract through 2025, but New York could be eager to move on from him given how disastrous his tenure there has been.
According to Barrows, it sounds like it's a way to let Purdy play out his rookie deal before the team makes a seismic move to an aging Hall of Famer like Rodgers.
“I just think that — two things — one, that the 49ers aren't as adverse to Brock Purdy as the public is,” Barrows said. “I think they realize that Purdy has faced a lot of challenges this year. And we can go through them, it's a long list of things that are different from last year and that they're very happy to have him for the future.
And B, and probably most importantly… the market is the market. They, like Brandon Aiyuk and wide receiver, won't get a discount if Brock Purdy's numbers dip a bit this year. This does not come with a discount. They have to pay the going rate for a starting quarterback, and that's common knowledge – some guys who we don't consider to be top-notch quarterbacks have been paid like top-notch quarterbacks lately.”
If Rodgers becomes available, we can probably expect his name to be linked to the 49ers. He and the club have been inextricably linked since they passed on him in the 2005 draft, but it sounds like San Francisco would rather go with Purdy than take on Rodgers at this point.
