SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA – AUGUST 12: San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York signs autographs for fans before their NFL pre-season game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Friday, Aug. 12, 2022.
With Purdy still anchored to his rookie contract — a $3.7 million deal as the 2022 draft’s final pick — the 49ers have had the financial wherewithal to pay top-end salaries at other positions, a luxury that threatens to become endangered once Purdy strikes it rich like Jimmy Garoppolo did in 2018 . A year ago, Purdy’s future was in question as he underwent surgery on his right elbow. In his ensuing comeback, he set the 49ers’ record for most passing yards in a season and he became their first Pro Bowl quarterback in 20 years.
At this week’s NFL meetings, York is expected to ascend from 49ers CEO and replace his mother, Denise DeBartolo-York, as principal owner of a franchise in which their family controls 97 percent of the stakes. While that would give him the 49ers’ power as their lone representative in NFL meetings, he has essentially served as the ownership group’s spokesman for his 13 years as CEO, though that’s essentially amounted to a once-a-year press conference. Instead while deferred to Shanahan and Lynch.