Brock Purdy Still Gives the 49ers an Advantage at the NFL Trade Deadline

In the modern NFL, the top teams have star quarterbacks under center. Defense may win championships, but there's something to be said for having an elite talent in the position that touches the ball on virtually every offensive play. The San Francisco 49ers, however, are bucking that trend.

During the 2022 campaign, Brock Purdy started out as the Niners' third-string quarterback but found himself in the top job. He played well enough to take over the role full-time in 2023. The season started out well, with San Francisco rattling off five consecutive wins, but things have come back to earth.

Back-to-back disappointing losses now have the NFC West club sitting at 5-2, and Purdy didn't exactly help the cause during Monday night's loss to the Vikings.

While that put a downside to relying on the former Mr. Irrelevant in the spotlight, there is still a major positive to the 49ers' choice of quarterback. And that's especially relevant as the NFL trade deadline approaches.

Purdy Failed to Execute on Monday Night Football

For much of the early season, Purdy and the 49ers offense defied expectations. While many thought that having a former seventh-round pick under center was a recipe for disaster, he managed to make the right decisions, spread the ball around and keep things ticking along. When you earn praise from the likes of Joe Staley and Tom Brady, you must be doing something right.

During the past two games, though, the QB has come back to earth.

While you could argue that Purdy wasn't to blame for San Francisco's loss to Cleveland—he got the team in position for a game-winning field goal, which wasn't converted—the signal-caller's stat line came up short. When the final whistle blew, he only completed 12 passes for 125 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Even if San Francisco escaped with the win, that sort of performance isn't sustainable.

Then on Monday Night Football, Purdy didn't seize the opportunity to set things right. His individual stats improved (21-of-31 passing for 272 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions), but his two turnovers came during crunch time.

Were things a bit trickier with Deebo Samuel and Trent Williams sidelined? Of course, but the fourth-quarter struggles speak to some of the potential skepticism that has hung around Purdy.

When the game is on the line, the best teams have quarterbacks who can step up and make a big play. As a former seventh-round pick and someone without the physical gifts of other stars, there's a fear that Purdy can't take over in the same way.

He, for all of his talent and early success, doesn't have the arm strength of Patrick Mahomes. He can't run like Lamar Jackson.

That's just something that the 49ers will have to contend with.

Purdy's Contract Does Give the Niners Room to Move

If the 49ers losses have stoked fears that the man under center is a weak link, there is a silver lining to the situation.

Let's return to the examples of quarterbacks who possess superior physical tools to Purdy. Mahomes is playing on a massive $450 million contract, which forces the Chiefs to make compromises elsewhere. Jackson's deal is smaller ($260 million), but that cash is spread over a shorter term. The quarterback will also carry an eye-watering $74.65 million cap hit in both the 2026 and 2027 seasons.

Purdy isn't making that sort of money. As a former seventh-round draft pick who started last season as the third-string QB, his entire four-year contract is worth less than $4 million. His 2023 cap hit is a hair under $900,000.

That affordable deal is a large part of why San Francisco has nearly $40 million of available cap space for the 2023 season. That buffer will evaporate in the future—Williams, George Kittle and Samuel, for example, will carry larger cap hits in 2024—but the Niners can make something happen before the 2023 NFL trade deadline.

And while the team would have to be conscious of how potential acquisitions would affect their future spending, there is plenty of room for reinforcements. The 49ers aren't afraid of making a move if the right situation presents itself. Randy Gregory already arrived from Denver earlier this October, and the club wasn't afraid to land Christian McCaffrey last season.

Maybe someone like Zach Ertz or Kendrick Bourne could join up, providing Purdy with an extra offensive weapon. And there are, of course, more potential trade targets on the defensive side of the ball. Maybe Adoree' Jackson moves west to provide a bit of extra cornerback coverage on a rental-style deal.

Again, that's not to say that Purdy is such a weak link that the 49ers need to go out and bring in five players at the deadline just to support him. Building a roster that fits within the salary cap, however, is about trade-offs. The quarterback might not have all-league raw talent, but he is playing on an incredibly affordable contract.

Given that the 49ers have made that talent vs. salary trade-off, at least for now, it would be foolish not to take full advantage of the opportunity.