The 49ers made one of the best offseason moves by restructuring Jimmy Garoppolo's contract to keep him around.
While Garoppolo became the second-highest-paid backup QB in the NFL, it kept him on the roster, which was much needed when Trey Lance went down with a season-ending injury in Week 2 of the 2022 NFL season. Even with the incentives, Garoppolo's deal made him a bargain starter.
If San Francisco felt it was paying a discount for a starting quarterback with Garoppolo, it must feel like Purdy is on clearance. Garoppolo's injury has placed Purdy, the last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, into the starting spot. Though he's not making the minimum salary, he's among the lowest-paid quarterbacks in the league and takes the cake as the lowest-paid starter.
How much is Purdy making in 2022? Here's what you need to know about Purdy's contract.
MORE: How Purdy is already most successful Mr. Irrelevant QB to date
Brock Purdy contract
Purdy doesn't make Garoppolo money. He doesn't even make Trey Lance money.
The last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft makes a base salary of only $705,000, according to Spotrac, and he won't be making much more than that over the life of the deal.
Per Spotrac, here's a year-by-year breakdown of his salary, signing bonus and yearly cash.
| Season | Salary | Bonus | Yearly Cash |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $705,000 | $19,252 | $782,008 |
| 2023 | $870,000 | $19,252 | $870,000 |
| 2024 | $985,000 | $19,252 | $985,000 |
| 2025 | $1,100,000 | $19,252 | $1,100,000 |
Purdy signed a $77,008 signing bonus that is spread out as a cap hit across all four seasons in which he is under contract. It won't be until his fourth and final season that he clears the $1 million mark in salary.
MORE: Latest injury news on Purdy ahead of 'Thursday Night Football'
That is part of the difference between a quarterback taken early in the first round compared to one taken last overall. Trey Lance, whom the 49ers drafted third overall in 2021, is earning a base salary of $2,210,240 in his second season and earned a signing bonus of more than $20 million. In the final guaranteed deal of his rookie contract, Lance will make a salary of $5,310,719, with the chance for more if his fifth-year option is picked up.
Garoppolo's new deal kept him as the highest-paid quarterback on the team, but it wasn't as much as he was originally set to make. Garoppolo had originally been set for a $24.2 million non-guaranteed salary for the season, but it was restructured to pay him $6.5 million in guaranteed salary with $500,000 on a roster bonus ($29,411 per game). He also earns $250,000 for each game where he saw 25 percent of offensive snaps and $100,000 for each of those games where San Francisco won the game.
If Garoppolo's season is indeed over, here is what his 2022 earnings are looking like:
- Base salary: $6.5 million
- Roster bonus: $500,000
- 25% snap incentives: $2.5 million
- Wins: $700,000
- Total: $9.2 million
So all told, the 49ers are paying Lance and Garoppolo $11,410,240. Purdy is making 6.2 percent of that.
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Week 15 starting QB contracts
It was probably already assumed that the 49ers were paying Purdy the least of just about any starting quarterback in the NFL.
And that's how the numbers shape up. Purdy's base salary is tied with fellow rookie starters Desmond Ridder and Kenny Pickett for the second-lowest base salary in the NFL behind only Deshaun Watson's $402,500.
In terms of a cap hit, no one is below Purdy. His cap hit of $724,252 is the lowest in the NFL. Ridder ($975,084) is the only other starter below $1 million.
Here's a look at the cap hits and base salaries for all 32 quarterbacks starting in Week 15.
