San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has a knack for getting the absolute most out of his quarterbacks, provided the signal-caller is capable of operating within the confines of Shanahan's system.
Few others know this better than former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, who secured NFL MVP honors back in 2016 with one of football's most prolific offenses in recent history that led Atlanta to a Super Bowl appearance.
Now, Shanahan is aiming to continue getting the most from his current franchise signal-caller, Brock Purdy, who is revising his expense sheet after receiving a lucrative five-year, $265 million extension earlier this offseason that not only makes him one of the league's highest-paid players, currently, but also the most-paid player in Niners history.
After what many consider a down year, Purdy will unquestionably need to live up to his new contract.
However, Ryan offered a counterpoint, one the young signal-caller might want to observe and adopt.
Matt Ryan encourages Brock Purdy to 'be himself' after payday
Speaking to NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco at the American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe, Ryan elaborated on what expectations may face Purdy in the wake of becoming one of the NFL's richest players.
Ryan's advice was straightforward and simple.
"I always thought, you know, when you sign big extensions and you go onto the next, obviously, there’s expectation and there’s weight there but you’ve gotta be yourself," Ryan told Maiocco. "They made a commitment to who you are, and certainly there’s potential to grow but not try to do too much. I think that’s where guys can fall into a trap."
Putting things bluntly, Ryan wants to see Purdy do all the things that got him to where he is in the first place, which isn't far off from the advice Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana gave Purdy not too long ago.
That said, Ryan acknowledged how quarterback contracts generally age well over time, especially in light of how the market only increases year over year.
"It’s a big number," Ryan said of Purdy's new deal. "But, you look four or five years down the road with the way contracts have changed, and they continue to go up, he’s going to be a team-friendly guy in a couple of years."
Hopefully, at least from the Niners' vantage point, Purdy continues to be himself throughout the duration of his contract.