Right now, the San Francisco 49ers are in one of the most enviable situations in the league. They have a quarterback on a seventh-round rookie scale contract who has played at an All-Pro level, and his minuscule deal in comparison to other starters has allowed the Niners to build one of the NFL's best rosters around him.
But that won't necessarily be the case for much longer. Brock Purdy will become extension-eligible next offseason, and if he plays at a level anywhere close to what he did during his first two seasons, he is going to rightfully ask for a monster deal. 49ers owner Jed York isn't worried about that causing problems.
"It's a good problem when your quarterback is one of the highest-paid guys on your team and in the league," York said at the NFL's annual owners meetings, according to The Mercury News.
York seems highly aware that this is just the way it works for good quarterbacks. How good, relative to other quarterbacks in the league, isn't necessarily what matters. All that matters if that because quarterbacks are so important, whichever of them is up for a deal next has a ton of leverage.
"It's what the market is. Brock is going to ask for something that no one has ever asked for before," York said without trepidation. "I don't know how many players are making over $40 million (annually) as a quarterback right now."
Of course, York probably won't be the one negotiating the actual deal with Purdy. The Niners have a front office in charge of that kind of stuff.
"There's a lot of planning that goes into it. I'm glad we have Paraag (Marathe), J.L. (John Lynch), Kyle (Shanahan). They're the ones that are going to figure out the details of it, and I just have to sign the check. My part in that is kind of easy."
