49ers news: Brock Purdy surgery delayed, Niners to hunt for QBs

Speaking from the NFL Scouting Combine, 49ers general manager John Lynch didn’t provide great news with regard to Brock Purdy’s elbow injury.

While the San Francisco 49ers’ loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2023 NFC Championship game will hurt for a while, the ramifications of that defeat could end up being felt for much longer than that.

And not just emotionally.

Quarterback Brock Purdy suffered that UCL tear in his throwing elbow in the game, which led to an initial estimate that he’d miss offseason workouts and wouldn’t be able to go until training camp after his surgery.

While there were some additional reports that Purdy’s surgery might need to be delayed because of swelling, the timetable for his return still appeared optimistic.

Perhaps that’s changed, though.

John Lynch provides not-so-optimistic update on 49ers QB Brock Purdy

General manager John Lynch is among those representing the Niners at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, and he spoke with members of the media on Tuesday to provide some general updates on the team.

Updates on Purdy, too.

When asked specifically about Purdy’s injury, surgery and subsequent recovery, Lynch was visibly pessimistic with his response about the surgery being delayed until swelling in the elbow decreased.

Here’s the clip, courtesy of NBC Sports Bay Area:

Lynch said:

"We want the best outcome, and that’s what Dr. Meister [performing the surgery on Purdy] made, a really tough decision, and we’re very appreciative, and he’s done thousands of these surgeries, and when you have all the swelling out, when you have all the stiffness out, is when he’s had the best success with the outcomes."

Purdy is expected to miss six months after surgery. Doing the math, that’d put a recovery timeline into mid-September if the 2022 rookie winds up having the procedure in the middle of March.

As such, it doesn’t look as if Purdy will be ready in time for Week 1.

49ers ‘may have to look into’ QB market to support Brock Purdy, Trey Lance

The only other quarterback under contract into 2023 is Trey Lance, and he’s also coming off a broken ankle suffered way back in Week 2 at the start of last season.

Potentially close to returning, which is also something Lynch mentioned, San Francisco will nevertheless need to add to the quarterback room for offseason workouts.

If for no other reason than to give Lance a break from having to work with the first-, second- and third-string units during OTAs and minicamps, and that’s assuming Purdy can somehow return in time for training camp.

Needless to say, the 49ers are likely to explore the backup-quarterback market in NFL free agency, and Lynch stressed that possibility:

“We may have to look into the quarterback market, in addition to Brock and Trey, to insulate ourselves from whatever may happen,” Lynch said.

Related Story: Free-agent QBs the 49ers can sign to back up Brock Purdy, Trey Lance

With just over $8 million in available salary-cap space, though, it might be difficult to bring in a big name. But, with either Purdy or Lance viewed as the long-term answer under center, perhaps the Niners are able to find a stopgap option to hold the line in the interim.

The 2023 NFL Scouting Combine continues this week, and NFL free agency will begin with the league new year on March 15.