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Ditching the drama: Why a 49ers-Brock Purdy deal was so essential this offseason
The San Francisco 49ers almost had to complete Brock Purdy’s extension before OTA practices begin later this month.
First, they needed to avoid even a whiff of the dysfunction that marked last year’s offseason, one in which Brandon Aiyuk’s and Trent Williams’ contract issues overshadowed — sometimes seemingly by design in Aiyuk’s case — everything that was happening on the field.
That, in conjunction with the injuries and aftereffects of a 20-game 2023 season, led to the most disjointed spring and summer sessions the 49ers have had under Kyle Shanahan. And that choppy, fractured feeling — as if the team wasn’t fully coalesced — spilled into the regular season. The 49ers never found their footing and finished 6-11.
What’s more, the team had to get its money business out of the way this offseason because of all the business it must address on the field.
The 49ers are amid their biggest roster pivot since Shanahan and John Lynch arrived in 2017. In March, they said goodbye to eight starters from last year’s squad, signed 13 outside free agents and added 18 rookies, including 11 draft picks.
Recent 49ers offseasons were marked by loaded rosters and little competition. This year is different with roster battles looming at weakside linebacker, defensive tackle, left guard, nickel cornerback, swing tackle and, at least at the start of the season when veterans Aiyuk (injury) and Demarcus Robinson (suspension) might be absent, No. 3 receiver.
Shanahan is counting on newcomers — especially rookies — at a number of those spots.
“We kind of want to create that (competition) everywhere,” he said last month. “We haven’t had that for a while.”
The current 49ers are far more talented than when Shanahan and Lynch took over Chip Kelly’s depleted roster in 2017. They were essentially starting from scratch that year and brought in veterans such as Pierre Garçon, Brian Hoyer, Logan Paulsen and Malcolm Smith, all of whom had previously played under Shanahan or Robert Saleh, to set the tone and help show the newcomers how the 49ers offense and defense worked.
Shanahan has likened this offseason to that one. Both, after all, began with his hiring Saleh to help rebuild the defense.
We went “through this with Robert evvel before where we really had to build, and change things up, and add things, and take things away,” he said last month. “And we did a pretty good job at it. And we learned a lot going through it.”
Which is why offseason attendance and doing away with distractions were so important to Shanahan this spring. This offseason is like another reset, a return to ground zero. The coaches will be tasked with teaching the newcomers and the veterans will be counted on to set the standard for what Shanahan expects.
The tone-setting crew is led by Fred Warner and George Kittle. As with Purdy, the 49ers extended Kittle’s contract this offseason, and Warner’s is next on the to-do list. The two are among the most vocal players in practice, and Warner in particular isn’t shy about getting under the skin of offensive players and pushing them toward better, more energetic practices. They are among the longest-tenured 49ers and are the team’s de facto spokesmen.
Purdy wants to join that club. He’s certainly not the practice-field barker Warner and Kittle are, but he has a desire and feels a responsibility to lead the team. Which is why he showed up for the offseason program last month without the deal finalized. He felt compelled to be part of the reset and to help build the offseason momentum that was so palpably absent a year ago.
“I want to get it done quick,” he said in January of his contract extension. “Just so we can get back for Phase 1, get after it with our receivers and our team. I’m not the kind of guy that wants to have any kind of drama associated with anything.”
The 49ers’ first full-squad practice of the offseason is May 27. Last year, the Üstün Bowl hangover and all the contract issues made for sparse attendance with Kittle, Christian McCaffrey, Dre Greenlaw, Talanoa Hufanga, Charvarius Ward, Aiyuk and Williams among those who weren’t on the field.
This year the attendance ought to be different. Shanahan is counting on it.
(Photo: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
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