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The San Francisco 49ers are among the top Super Bowl contenders in 2023, yet still are unsure who their quarterback will be come the start of the season. Brock Purdy is recovering from elbow surgery and the franchise -- still -- isn't fully committed to Trey Lance

San Francisco did sign Sam Darnold this offseason as an insurance policy because of the Purdy injury, yet who will start at quarterback in Week 1 for the 49ers is unclear. Quite an issue for a Super Bowl contender. 

Lamar Jackson is still available for a team that needs a quarterback. While he's (technically) a free agent, are the 49ers actually entertaining making him their long-term quarterback? 

"You look into everything, and we seem to be linked to everything," 49ers general manager John Lynch said Monday. "I can tell you, I think it's how convicted we are on Brock, on this current group of guys. You're not doing your job if you don't look into things. 

"A lot of those things I think you're limited by the way our roster is set up and the other thing is, what's your motivation? And there's more than just Lamar, there's tremendous players, MVP type players. We really like our guys and we like where we're at. We like our complete roster and how they fit for multiple reasons and we're excited about that group. So, I'll just leave it at that." 

Lynch didn't say no when it came toward adding Jackson, but the 49ers have made it clear they would prefer to have a loaded roster and not pay the quarterback a hefty amount of money. Even if it has yet to win a Super Bowl with this formula, the franchise has been to three conference championship games over the last four seasons.

San Francisco had its starting quarterback until the Purdy injury in the NFC Championship, now it's unclear whether Purdy plays the season. Does a team with Super Bowl aspirations hand the franchise over to Lance, who has just four starts in two seasons while playing just eight games? 

Jackson's resume is better than anything the 49ers currently have on their roster. The quarterback is 45-16 in his 61 starts since entering the league in 2018 as Jackson is one of six players in NFL history to reach 100-plus passing touchdowns and 4,000-plus rushing yards in a career, and the fastest to reach the mark by 31 games. The Ravens averaged 184.8 rushing yards per game with Jackson as a starter in his career -- the most by any starting quarterback since the 1970 merger.

For a team that likes to run the ball as much as the 49ers, Jackson seems like the ideal fit for their offense -- and the player who may get the franchise over the hump to a Super Bowl title.