Brock Purdy has perfect message for Mike Evans on averted 49ers number controversy

When the San Francisco 49ers signed veteran wide receiver Mike Evans in the offseason, the news was largely met with jubilation from fans.

While that was the initial reaction, for those who think about jersey numbers, the mind quickly turned to the thought, "What number will he wear?"

Surely, Evans couldn’t wear No. 13, the same number he wore his entire career up to this point with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That’s Brock Purdy’s number!

San Francisco’s signal-caller shed some light on whether he’d be willing to give that number up at a press conference on Monday.

"[Evans] hasn’t asked me yet or anything… 13, I feel like, for me, is my number, so he’d have to put a pretty big price tag on it. At the end of the day, we both want to win, and whatever it takes is what it takes."

That's the perfect franchise quarterback answer. Even when asked a lighthearted question, he steers it back to whatever it takes for the team to win.

Purdy need not fear that the veteran wide receiver will steal his number because Evans recently revealed he will wear No. 5 with the 49ers. That number has an interesting history on the franchise. Former quarterbacks such as Jeff Garcia, David Carr, Joshua Dobbs, and, ahem, Trey Lance have worn it. So has former punter Bradley Pinion. Edge rusher Randy Gregory wore it after the Niners traded for him in 2023. The most recent player to wear it was wide receiver Demarcus Robinson, who had a disappointing campaign for San Francisco in 2025.

Robinson is still with the Niners, for now, at least, so Evans may have to get him a nice watch or something as a "thank you" for the jersey number.

It can still be weird sometimes to see wide receivers wear single-digit jersey numbers. For years, wide receivers were only allowed to wear 10-19 or 80-89. The NFL loosened up those rules, so now any player can have a single-digit jersey number, which used to be reserved just for quarterbacks, kickers, and punters.

While Evans is a great wide receiver and will probably be in the Hall of Fame one day, it wouldn’t feel right if he came in and took Purdy’s number. Mr. Irrelevant has earned that number with how he’s played in his young NFL career, and there would be a lot of fans who have purchased his jersey over the last few years who'd be a little ticked off if he changed course now. 

The Arizona native may have to look out for wide receiver Christian Kirk as well, though. The Niners signed him in the offseason, and No. 13 is the only jersey number Kirk has ever worn in the NFL, so perhaps the receiver will try to snag it.

Purdy does a sentimental reason for choosing that number, though, as he grew up liking the Miami Dolphins and was a Dan Marino fan, so he went with the same number as Marino. Some fans are old enough to remember that Purdy wore No. 14 for a brief time before he made the roster, officially, after the preseason his rookie year.

Thankfully, whatever controversy there could have been between who would wear No. 13 between Purdy and Evans never materialized, and the two can now get to work on teaming up for some touchdown passes in the upcoming season. 

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