Will the 49ers Regret Giving this Player a Huge Contract Extension?

The 49ers gave out some outrageous contract extensions last year that they probably wish they could take back.

Brandon Aiyuk, for example. The 49ers clearly didn't want to give him $30 million per season -- that's why they drafted Ricky Pearsall and almost traded Aiyuk. But Pearsall missed most of training camp with injuries, so the 49ers gave Aiyuk $30 million per season at the last minute. And then he played some of the worst football of his career before injuring his knee. Now, unless Aiyuk regains 100 percent of the speed and quickness that he had before his injury, the 49ers are stuck with one of the worst contracts in the NFL.

This offseason, the 49ers gave out their biggest extensions -- one to Fred Warner, one to George Kittle and one to Brock Purdy. Warner is in his prime and has missed just one game in his career. The 49ers probably won't regret that extension.

Kittle is older -- he'll turn 32 in October. But elite tight ends generally play into their mid-to-late 30s. See: Travis Kelce. And Kittle is having a fantastic training camp.

Purdy is a different story. He's coming off a down season, and yet the 49ers still gave him $53 million per season. That's why Bleacher Report says the 49ers will regret giving Purdy that extension.

Will the 49ers regret Purdy's extension?

"Despite historically awesome numbers in the first two seasons of his career, Purdy struggled in key playoff moments," writes Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon. "And then, with less support due to injuries throughout the roster in Year 3, he was exposed as his rate-based stats plummeted. The 49ers will likely never be able to give him the support they did in 2022 and 2023, and there’s a good chance we’ll see more of the flaws that caused him to drop into the seventh round of the ‘22 draft."

Unfortunately for the 49ers, Gagnon makes good points. The first two seasons of Purdy's career, his numbers were inflated because he played with Christian McCaffrey, who was the best offensive player in the NFL at the time.

Teams were so afraid of McCaffrey, they would bracket him when he ran routes out of the backfield, meaning they put two defenders on him and leave other receivers one-on-one or wide open. This made Purdy's job relatively easy.

Now, McCaffrey is coming off an injury-riddled season, and he's 29, which is old for a running back. He probably isn't the best offensive player in the league anymore. And Aiyuk is still injured. And Jauan Jennings has missed most of training camp with a calf injury.

Here's when the 49ers will regret Purdy's contract: If he's inconsistent again this season, and he misses a game or two, and Mac Jones replaces him and plays just as well or better while getting paid $4.2 million, the 49ers will ask themselves why they gave Purdy all that money.