Back in 2005, there were rumblings that the San Francisco 49ers might draft Aaron Rodgers, a Chico, California native, with the first overall pick in the NFL Draft. Instead, though, they decided to select Alex Smith to be their quarterback of the future. Rodgers, meanwhile, slid all the way down the draft board and was not selected until the Green Bay Packers took him with the 24th overall pick.
And the rest, as the saying goes, was history.
Rodgers went on to win four NFL MVP Awards, a Super Bowl, and a Super Bowl MVP in what turned out to be a Hall of Fame worthy career for the Packers.
Smith spent seven oft-injured seasons with the 49ers and did not reach his Pro Bowl potential until he landed with the Kansas City Chiefs. Indeed, since 2005, San Francisco has had 16 different starting quarterbacks while Green Bay has used seven.
The San Francisco 49ers Face an Expensive Question with Brock Purdy
After cycling through several starting quarterbacks since 2005, San Francisco appeared to have hit on one with in one of the most improbable places. They selected Brock Purdy with the very last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, but did not expect him to play over Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo.
Injuries to both quarterbacks, though, thrusted Purdy into starting duties as a rookie, and he led the 49ers to the NFC Championship Game. The following year, 2023, he made the Pro Bowl and finished fourth in NFL MVP voting after he completed 69.4% of his passes for 4,280 yards, 31 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and a 113.0 passer rating.
But Purdy, along with the rest of the 49ers, took a step back in 2024. Last season, without his top wide receivers, Purdy completed 65.9% of his passes for 3,864 yards, 20 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, and a 96.1 passer rating.
While these numbers were not terrible, per say, they were not what fans had come to expect. And now that Purdy is eligible for a contract extension, San Francisco needs to make a decision on whether or not they want to keep him around for the long run.
If they do, he could command a contract worth up to $60 million a season.
San Francisco 49ers Insider Does Not Want Brock Purdy (or Aaron Rodgers) on the Team
While the 49ers figure out what they want to do with Purdy going forward, Rodgers is a free agent after being released by the New York Jets. Even though he has generated interest from the Pittsburgh Steelers, he has not signed, citing some heavy personal reasons that are commanding most of his attention right now.
And even though he has not been formerly linked to San Francisco, the team he cheered for growing up, 49ers insider Grant Cohn would like to make one thing perfectly clear about him, and Purdy for that matter:
“Purdy isn’t worth franchise quarterback money. And Rodgers isn’t worth any money anymore. Because if he’s considering retirement, that means he already mentally is retired. He has one foot out the door. A team could play him to go through the motions for a year or two, but that’s all he’ll do on the field. And in the locker room, he’ll spread toxicity and discontent.
“No, thank you.
“What the 49ers should do is embrace a full rebuild. Acknowledge that they could not win a Super Bowl with their current core group of players, trade them and move on. Build a new core of young players. Trade George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey, Trent Williams, Nick Bosa and Brock Purdy. Finish the job they started this offseason when they traded Deebo Samuel to the Washington Commanders.”
After finishing 6-11 last season, the 49ers are hoping for a bounce back in 2025. Cohn, obviously, thinks that they would be better off tearing it all down and starting over.
It seems drastic, but they are an older team and need to get younger quickly.
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