Brock Purdy is a good quarterback. He's a very good quarterback, in fact. No one should be arguing that as a fact. It is. What the conversation should be about is how good a quarterback he actually is. Is he good enough to command $53 million annually?
That's what everyone is hoping to find out. It's a question for his career, not for his first week as a newly minted $265 million player. Still, each week will either help or hurt his case for being worth the money, and that case took a hit in Week 1.
Facing off with divisional rivals, the Seattle Seahawks, the 49ers struggled to score. Turnovers by Purdy were a big reason why they didn't net more points. The worst of the turnovers was arguably a pass to Ricky Pearsall in triple coverage that was easily picked.
It's one thing to see two picks by a quarterback, knowing both of them are from tipped passes or mistakes by the receivers. It's another to see a quarterback just make an ill-advised throw into heavy coverage. It's throws like that which will have people questioning if Purdy is truly a good quarterback, or simply good enough.
Purdy wasn't awful today; he did play a good game. He threw for 277 yards, had two touchdowns, and only took one sack. All in all, it was a fine day. That said, when you're making over $50 million per year (about $3.1 million per game), fine isn't enough. When Purdy signed that contract, the expectations for him went to a level most quarterbacks don't have to deal with.
Super Bowl or bust.
Yes, George Kittle got hurt. Yes, key players like Deebo Samuel are on a different team. Sorry, but those aren't excuses you can lean on anymore. When you take elite money, you need to produce elite outings. A solid game, which is what Purdy had, isn't enough anymore.
That said, every elite quarterback has these types of games now and then. One ho-hum game isn't going to ruin Purdy's reputation. He doesn't have the leverage, however, to keep having these games. He has to produce, win games, and eventually win a Super Bowl. Otherwise, this contract will be seen as a mistake.
Purdy has already gone to one Super Bowl, so we know it's possible for him to do it again, but can he do it as the centerpiece of an offense? We'll find out this year, won't we?