On the surface, San Francisco 49ers QB Brock Purdy’s new contract looks incredibly team-friendly. Despite the big $265 million number, his $53 million per year annual salary comes in below market-resetting value, and is even below Miami Dolphins’ QB Tua Tagovailoa. It’s still a LOT, but given other QB contracts around the NFL, not having to reset the market was a good thing.
However, where he was able to win back some leverage on his contract was with the inclusion of a full no-trade clause. Only seven other players in the NFL have a no trade clause in their contract, all QBs: Baltimore Ravens’ QB Lamar Jackson, Jacksonville Jaguars’ QB Trevor Lawrence, Philadelphia Eagles’ QB Jalen Hurts, Kansas City Chiefs’ QB Patrick Mahomes, Detroit Lions’ QB Jared Goff, Atlanta Falcons’ QB Kirk Cousins, and Buffalo Bills’ QB Josh Allen. Purdy now joins this exclusive group of players who can dictate their future regardless of what happens to the team around them.
From the 49ers’ perspective, this deal and clause essentially locks them into Purdy for the long term. If Purdy doesn’t live up to his contract and the Niners have to tear it all down, Purdy can simply play hard ball and not waive his no-trade clause. This is very similar to what recently retired QB Derek Carr would do with his clause. Before the news about his shoulder came out, the Saints were looking at having to release him instead of trading him because of the clause. For the Niners, the team-building around Purdy now gets much more difficult. There’s not a lot of wiggle room with Purdy making $53 million, but that’s why GMs get paid the big bucks. San Francisco has to build a team that can win a lot of games right now with Purdy being very expensive, or that no-trade clause starts to look very waive-able and the $53 million looks like an anchor.
Either way it goes, good for Brock Purdy. Going from the last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft to a $53 million per year deal that includes a no-trade clause. Gotta respect the work.
