Brock Purdy still has a lot of football to play before the 49ers can reward him with a new contract.

However, one should not expect this process to be as lengthy as the negotiations that lasted the entire training camp with 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and left tackle Trent Williams.

When the 49ers enter the first day of their 2025 offseason program, the situation needs to be resolved. They need their quarterback in the building.

And now the situation seems to be favorable for exactly that to happen.

The last major domino fell on Sunday morning when the Dallas Cowboys signed quarterback Dak Prescott to a four-year, $240 million contract extension. Prescott is now the highest-paid player in the NFL, with an average annual salary of $60 million over the term of his contract extension.

The expectation in NFL circles was that Prescott and the Cowboys would play out this season, at which point Prescott would sign a big deal – perhaps $65 million a year – with the Cowboys or another team.

Only after Prescott completed his contract were the 49ers and Purdy expected to agree to a multi-year contract extension at a price less than what Prescott was set to receive.

Now, it looks like everything could be going well for Purdy and the 49ers as the offseason begins. There’s nothing holding them back – except the calendar.

NFL players are not allowed to renegotiate their contracts until after their third season. This is Purdy’s third year in the NFL and this is the crucial season to determine where he stands on the league’s salary scale.

Purdy’s original contract as the last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft was a four-year deal worth $3.7 million.

Purdy, who finished fourth in NFL MVP voting last season, is currently the 41st highest-paid player on the 49ers.

In a year, he will be by far the highest-paid player on the team. But first, he must maintain his quality of play at the level the 49ers expect from him in 27 appearances (21 in the regular season, six in the postseason).

Purdy could benefit from the timing of a new contract, which would come with a rising salary cap and the precedent that many of the other top quarterbacks are already being paid.

Behind Prescott are Jordan Love of Green Bay, Trevor Lawrence of Jacksonville and Joe Burrow of Cincinnati at $55 million per season.

Tua Tagovailoa of Miami, Jared Goff of Detroit, Justin Herbert of the Chargers, Lamar Jackson of Baltimore and Jalen Hurts of Philadelphia are also members of the $50 million club.

This will be the last season that the 49ers’ starting quarterback plays on a minimum contract, but that doesn’t mean the team’s roster will have to undergo extensive rehab.

The 2024 season doesn’t have to be the team’s last chance at a championship. Not even close.

The high salary in Purdy’s contract will not have a major impact on the team’s salary cap in 2025 or 2026 – and perhaps not even in 2027.

Of course, the 49ers will have to make some decisions in the future about which players from their current roster to re-sign or which free agents to sign. But the 49ers haven’t spent much money on free agents anyway.

The benefits of making a huge financial commitment to a quarterback far outweigh the disadvantages of giving a player at that position a lot of salary cap space.

If Purdy finally proves again that he deserves a big contract, the 49ers organization will be in top form for many seasons.

After all, Purdy is 24 years old and has a lot of good football ahead of him. And any team with a franchise quarterback is always a serious candidate.

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