49ers roster: Insanely early 53-man roster projection for 2023

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Trey Lance, Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers

Trey Lance #5 and Brock Purdy #13 of the San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images) /

49ers’ Quarterbacks (3)

QB Brock Purdy

QB Trey Lance

QB Sam Darnold

The offseason conversation is going to continue to swirl with the talk of what the 49ers should do about the Brock Purdy and Trey Lance conundrum.

49ers general manager John Lynch noted that Purdy is the “leader in the clubhouse,” but the issue with that is that Purdy won’t be able to throw for another few months and the timeline for his recovery from offseason UCL surgery could have him butting up against the start of the regular season. This means he’d miss all the offseason programs and training camp, giving Lance an opportunity to grab some vital reps.

But the question of who will start at quarterback is ultimately a question for another day. Both Purdy and Lance are making this team, as it isn’t advantageous from a salary cap perspective for the 49ers to entertain a trade.

The main issue will be whether free agent signing Sam Darnold will make this team or not. His contract suggests the 49ers expect him to play a role in 2023, but he may also simply be an insurance policy if Purdy’s recovery is slower than expected.

It wouldn’t be out of character for the 49ers to keep three quarterbacks and last season certainly showed the benefits of having a third on the roster, but the moving parts of this will be down to how Purdy recovers and what Darnold shows during his preseason games.