Brock Purdy and the 49ers didn't want to copy Jared Goff's contract with the Lions, but the latter's certainly was an influence.
Comparatively speaking, quarterback Brock Purdy's new contract extension with the San Francisco 49ers was easy.
This, in light of the Niners' other tenuous negotiations done with other star players, previously, which had the tendency of dragging out late in the offseason and even into training camp. Just ask defensive end Nick Bosa or wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk in previous years.
Purdy publicly declared he wanted no distractions on that front once San Francisco's 2024 season came to a close. By all accounts, any perceived distractions were minimal.
And it appeared as if the quarterback and franchise had a benchmark contract with which to compare: that of the Detroit Lions' own signal-caller, Jared Goff.
Jared Goff's contract directly influenced 49ers' deal with Brock Purdy
In his MMQB piece the Monday following news of Purdy's extension, Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer broke down some specifics about how the new contract ultimately went down, highlighting how both parties emphasized fairness for the other.
Therein, Breer described how it's not a backloaded contract, which is the kind of deal the 49ers have done before with other star players. And the Niners didn't want to reset the market either, a compromise Purdy's camp was willing to meet.
However, the link to Goff's deal with Detroit was a point of interest, as Breer pointed out:
"The contract has $165.05 million in new money over the first three new years, which edged out a metric Jared Goff’s deal in Detroit hit last year. That means he’ll get $170.14 million over the first four years of the contract (2025 to ’28). Goff’s deal was an important comparison because both sides saw it as one that didn’t break records, but did well by the player in many different ways."
Both Goff and Purdy have annual average values of $53 million on their respective deals, but AAV isn't necessarily as important as guarantees or cash flow.
So, from that vantage point, San Francisco knew Goff's extension didn't exactly break records but did right by him, and it appears as if the 49ers wanted to reply in kind to their quarterback, too.
Thank you, Jared.