THE San Francisco 49ers are not having the year they imagined in 2024, and it might drastically change soon.
After a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, the 49ers are 3-4 on the season and falling out of playoff contention.
Brock Purdy and the 49ers are having a rough start to the season[/caption]
Some NFL executives think Purdy could be traded[/caption]
Things don’t look like they are going to improve anytime soon either.
The 49ers just lost star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk to a torn ACL, Christian McCaffrey hasn’t played a single snap all season, and Deebo Samuel is suddenly out with an illness.
Athletic writer Mike Ando addressed these struggles in a weekly column by talking to NFL executives around the league.
All of those executives obviously had concerns about the 49ers, but one took it to the extreme.
The executive targeted quarterback Brock Purdy in his analysis of improving the 49ers.
Purdy is one of the great stories in the NFL, going from the last player in the draft to a top quarterback in the league.
However, Purdy will be due a massive contract extension soon, and the executive wasn’t sure if he should be the long-term option for the 49ers.
“They need to make a decision about whether they should just be moving on from this older core and building around Purdy, or do they trade Purdy, get stuff for him and go with a cheaper option at quarterback?” the executive told Sando.
Purdy is having a fine start to the season, but he certainly isn’t elevating the 49ers to a high level.
Through seven games he has 1,841 passing yards with nine touchdowns and seven interceptions.
While he is second in the league in passing yards, he is second in interceptions and 11th in touchdowns.
The executive gave a simple explanation for Purdy’s performance, saying he isn’t the guy.
“It’s about being a guy being a dude, and Purdy is not in that ‘dude’ category,” he said.
While the 49ers might benefit from having an elite-level quarterback like Patrick Mahomes or Lamar Jackson, this scenario seems more likely to play out in a video game than in real life.
Most of the time, if teams have a quarterback-head coach combo that works, they try not to mess with it.
NFL important dates
August 1 – Hall of Fame Game – Houston Texans vs Chicago Bears
August 8 – Pre-season begins
August 27 – Deadline for 53-man rosters
September 1 – Final day of pre-season
September 5 – Season opener – Baltimore Ravens vs Kansas City Chiefs
November 5 – Trade deadline
January 5 – Week 18 of regular-season
January 11 – Playoffs begin
February 9 – Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, Louisiana
“A lot of people would trade their situations with San Francisco,” the executive told Sando.
“They just aren’t as deep as they typically have been.”
The 49ers have one more game on Sunday before they head into their bye week.
If they lose on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys, they could become sellers and look to compete next year.
However, if they win and move to 4-4, expect the 49ers to compete by the end of the season with Purdy at quarterback.
Purdy has nine touchdowns and seven interceptions this season[/caption]
