As the last overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft approached, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan had his eye on Brock Purdy, recognizing him as the best available player. Surprisingly, Purdy was still on the board, shocking Shanahan, who had a fourth-round grade on the quarterback. But there he sat, still on the board, waiting for some NFL organization to scoop him up.
With the 49ers having other needs, Shanahan's scouts and coaches advocated for players they deemed better value for the seventh-round pick, suggesting Purdy could be signed as an undrafted free agent and wanting the coach to side with their players.
Having recently traded a haul of draft capital, including multiple first-round picks, for Trey Lance, the 49ers seemingly had their quarterback. Shanahan initially felt drafting another was unnecessary.
"You hear all this stuff and the last thing you wanna be is the offensive head coach who's like, 'Nope, we're taking my favorite quarterback,'" Shanahan told Peter King of NBC Sports. "I get it—this linebacker, this running back might start for us … This linebacker might be the next dude. I remember saying before the draft I wouldn't be surprised if Brock was there in the seventh, or didn't get drafted. Just how the NFL works."
However, a compelling argument swayed Shanahan to follow his instincts. That persuasion didn't come from general manager John Lynch, CEO Jed York, or any of his coaches. It came from Jed York's father, 49ers co-chairman John York.
"I'm always trying to check myself on this stuff," Shanahan shared. "The pick's coming up and I remember [John] asking, 'Who's the best player out there?' I go, 'Well, there's no doubt Purdy's the best player.' He goes, 'Then what are we talking about?' I was like, 'Well, there's other spots. Also, we might be able to get him as a free agent for $10,000 after the draft.' Dr. York can't believe it. He's looking at me like, I don't get why there's discussion if you guys think he's the best player.
"Then it gets closer. I'm also getting the feeling we're not getting Purdy as a free agent because there are so many other teams who are going to try to sign him. He wasn't coming to us. He's told me since then he was signing somewhere else. I said in the room, 'Let's not risk it. This guy's too good.'"
San Francisco ultimately selected Purdy as the last overall pick. You know the rest of the story. Purdy stepped into the spotlight after two quarterbacks went down in his rookie season, guiding the 49ers to the playoffs and the NFC Championship Game before sustaining an injury.
While Purdy told Shanahan that he was signing elsewhere, he later admitted to Lynch that the 49ers were likely the frontrunners to sign him as an undrafted free agent if they hadn't drafted him.
"I asked Brock often, 'Would we have got you as a free agent?'" Lynch said this past week. "And finally, he sheepishly told me, 'Yeah, you guys would have had me, but I'm glad you drafted me.'"
Purdy has led the 49ers back to the Super Bowl this season, aiming to prove the last of his remaining critics wrong by earning the organization's sixth championship.
Shanahan reflected, "John and I, we took Purdy. And thank God we did."
