Rapoport: This key issue could halt Brock Purdy’s 49ers contract talks

The San Francisco 49ers haven't had much luck finalizing their major contract negotiations early in the offseason. They've tried, but recent talks with stars like Nick Bosa and Brandon Aiyuk have been riddled with drama and delays.

Now, the 49ers hope to avoid a drawn-out process with quarterback Brock Purdy, who is eligible for his first contract extension. Purdy is widely expected to secure the biggest deal in franchise history—and potentially one of the largest in the NFL. The question is: what will that number be?

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NFL insider Ian Rapoport believes the deal's timing is one of the biggest challenges in negotiations with Purdy's camp.

"Can they get Brock Purdy done at a reasonable time when there's no hold-in [and] there's no drama?" Rapoport asked on NFL Network's The Insiders. "They have not been able to for these big-time contracts. So I think that's one question the 49ers are going to have to figure out [and] solve."

Rapoport points out that the 49ers face a "math problem"—determining where Purdy's contract should rank among the league's highest-paid quarterbacks. Dak Prescott tops the list with a $60 million average annual salary. Making Purdy a top-five quarterback would mean at least $53.1 million annually.

"Where does Brock Purdy fit in?" Rapoport asked. "He's going to be a highly-paid quarterback. That's not a question. But Dak Prescott's at 60. Does he eclipse Dak? Okay, well, if not, then you have three quarterbacks [behind him]. You have [Bengals QB] Joe Burrow, you have [Packers QB] Jordan Love, you have [Jaguars QB] Trevor Lawrence at 55. Does he eclipse them?

"If his agent says yes and the 49ers say no, that's as big a problem as you could get with contract negotiations. And those are the kinds of things that can really halt things."

There's no doubt the 49ers want Purdy as their long-term quarterback.

"They absolutely do," Rapoport emphasized. "Many, many, many teams would. But it's just where does he fit in the pecking order that makes this a really challenging riddle for them."

NFL Network's Mike Garafolo added his perspective.

"He's run this offense the way it's supposed to be run," Garafolo said. "In his mind, he's a top-tier quarterback. So, guess what? That means he's going to want top-tier quarterback money.

"So let's see how the 49ers approach this. This could be easy, this could be ugly, this could be somewhere in between."