With a player's day off on Wednesday allowing the team and the San Francisco 49ers organization time to decompress after an extremely stressful offseason, those inside the front office might be tempted to reflect on a job well done.
In the end, after a pair of sagas that seemed at one point like they could reach very unsatisfactory outcomes for San Francisco, the 49ers got both Brandon Aiyuk and Trent Williams back on the practice field ahead of Monday's season opener with the New York Jets.
With Aiyuk's four-year, $120 million extension and Williams' reworked deal eventually following extensions for Christian McCaffrey and Jauan Jennings, the 49ers essentially achieved all their offseason goals, save for losing defensive tackle Arik Armstead back in March after he refused to restructure his deal.
But now is not the time for backslapping in the 49er front office. Yes, they got the Aiyuk and Williams deals over the line, but there's no escaping the reality it took San Francisco far too long to achieve that feat, leaving Aiyuk and Williams with just a week of practice to prepare for the Jets.
Aiyuk, for his part, accepted some of the blame for his very public contract saga stretching until the end of August, the All-Pro wide receiver admitting he made the negotiation "a little more difficult than it needed to be at the end".
Williams, though, did express some surprise at how long it took his holdout to be resolved, though he appreciated the extenuating circumstances of the other contract issues partially contributed to the delay.
He said:
"Obviously, I didn't think that it would get this drawn out. But it's a tough business and this was a very intricate contract—I wouldn't call it a dispute—but restructure. It took time to get to where both sides feel like it's a win-win. We had discussions in minicamp, and I kind of knew that it could draw out a little bit, just because there was other people on the table that, obviously, a lot of pressing needs. Obviously, I didn't think it would go this long, but it is what it is. We actually retained a really good rapport during the whole time I was away, kept in contact with [GM] John [Lynch] and [head coach] Kyle [Shanahan], so it was all business. Our friendship, Kyle's like family to me. All that remained the same."
Shanahan and Lynch do an excellent job of maintaining strong relationships with their players. That will be key again in an even more crucial offseason in 2025, but lessons must be learned from 2024 with the negotiation of a likely massive contract for quarterback Brock Purdy on the horizon next year.
Assuming Purdy continues to perform at the extremely high level he did in 2023, he will be deserving of a deal to make him one of the highest-paid players in football. The 49ers will know that and they will also know that, with the quarterback, there is no wiggle room to leave it until the final week before the regular season to get a deal done.
Next year, the 49ers will need Purdy in the building and practicing by at least training camp. Given how meticulous Purdy is in his preparation, it's tougher to envision a holdout taking place, but the Niners can't afford for it to even enter the conversation as a possibility. The Purdy negotiation will not be one in which the 49ers will have time for prolonged staredowns.
San Francisco's talks with Purdy may be complicated by another crowded docket of contract issues, with several starters including cornerbacks Charvarius Ward and Deommodore Lenoir bound for free agency in 2025 and the futures of some high-profile 2026 free agents such as Deebo Samuel and George Kittle also in doubt.
But the length of the to-do list is all the more reason for the 49ers to try to get out in front of the Purdy deal as soon as possible. The Niners can't officially negotiate with Purdy until the 2024 season (the third year of his rookie deal) comes to an end, but they can use what they see in the upcoming campaign to inform an offer to present to his representatives whenever it does conclude.
Purdy will have no desire to play anywhere else than for a team and for a coach who does an incredible job of maximizing his strengths. By offering him a deal to do so at the first opportunity, the Niners can avoid what happened with Aiyuk, whose negotiation was significantly impacted by contracts signed by rival players at his position. Were Purdy to accept, they could then swiftly move on to the plethora of additional contract situations they will need to address.
The 49ers have consistently been happy to play the long game with contract negotiations with star players, but in the case of Aiyuk this year and Nick Bosa in 2023, that approach resulted in them paying more than they ideally would have liked.
Shanahan likely won't countenance any delay in getting his quarterback in the building next offseason. If the 49ers are to save money on the Purdy deal and avoid any complications in his preparations for 2025, the long game can't be an option for San Francisco next year.
