3 reasons why 49ers signing Mac Jones can lead to Brock Purdy’s rise

It’s too early for the San Francisco 49ers to tell Brock Purdy to either sign the new contract that they offered last month or they will look for other arrangements. Jed York signed former first-round pick Mac Jones to a two-year deal, making it clear that they want to give Purdy a heads-up for the upcoming weeks as the negotiation continues.

On Wednesday, the Niners officially signed Jones to a deal worth $7 million, with $5 million guaranteed over the next two seasons, as veteran Nick Mullens went the other way to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Following his release from the Patriots, Jones signed with the Jaguars as Trevor Lawrence‘s backup, and it seems he will play a similar role in California as well. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Jones isn’t there to replace Purdy but rather as an insurance policy.

This does not bear, from my understanding, on the Brock Purdy negotiations. They still want to get him locked up for the long haul.

Tom Pelissero said on The Dan Patrick Show

Signing Mac Jones might speed up Brock Purdy’s contract negotiations

49ers insider Tim Kawakami predicted in an article on SF Standard that Brock Purdy’s signing might be delayed compared to his initial calculations. Kawakami thought the 25-year-old might get the deal done sometime in April, but now he believes it will take until May to complete.

The main reason for the delay is the number. An initial offer of $40 million+ deal has been on the table for a while, but Purdy’s representatives are aiming for $10 million more.

Almost all good QB1s get new deals when they’re eligible for one—unless the team doesn’t think the QB is all that valuable… I think Purdy will seek something near $50 million a year or more. I think he’s earned the right to demand it.

Tim Kawakami wrote

Reestablish Purdy as a top quarterback

The 2024 season didn’t go according to plan for the 49ers as they finished with only six wins. Question marks were put on whether Purdy is capable of winning games without All-Pro players around him, considering he didn’t have Brandon Aiyuk, Trent Williams, Christian McCaffrey, and Dre Greenlaw on the team to cover for his mistakes.

However, after the Niners’ final week’s loss against the Arizona Cardinals, Lynch said that they still have faith in Purdy and will stick with him in 2025.

Brock is—our guy. We have interest in him being around for a long, long time. He’s done so much for our organization. He’s won big games.

John Lynch said

49ers GM John Lynch of QB Brock Purdy and his upcoming contract: "What we know about Brock is that he's our guy. We have interest in him being around for a long, long time."

Purdy is now officially extension eligible.

pic.twitter.com/kqzV6tzURF

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 8, 2025

It meant giving Purdy a long-term deal as his rookie deal is set to end after the 2025 season. Spotrac predicted Purdy to get a $50 million-a-year deal, but the 49ers offered a team-friendly deal so that Purdy gets a 9x upgrade over his current expected base salary of $5.3 million.

Signing Mac Jones is an indicator that the 49ers are gearing up to play the long game, even though Purdy earlier said he had no intention of dragging the negotiations for too long. This move will undeniably help Purdy’s camp decide on a number quickly.

You gotta pay him [Brock Purdy]. I can show you 4 or 5 guys in the league making tons of money that haven’t produced anywhere near what he’s been able to do. They just had one of those years where guys were getting hurt offensively and defensively, craziness at the beginning of the year with talking trades with the wide receiver, and then he gets hurt. They just had one of those years where you can’t wait to get it behind you.

Legendary 49ers QB Joe Montana said earlier this year

A possible improvement in Purdy’s game

Purdy hit the ground running in his rookie season after both Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance suffered injuries. He led them to an NFC Championship game and the following year went to the Super Bowl but lost to the Chiefs.

In 2024, he struggled big time, completing 65.9% of his passes (career lowest) and dropping down below 100 in the passer ratings (96.1).

Jones is not a world beater, but has four years of experience under his belt to pose a challenge for Purdy. The Alabama graduate is also a former favorite of Shanahan. He and Lance were the two QBs on Shanahan’s radar. The Niners eventually drafted the North Dakota State prospect, and Jones fell to the Patriots.

Jones can play a similar role to Garoppolo before he moved on to the Raiders and then to the Rams.

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