NFL draft The
San Francisco 49ers selected Purdy with the final pick (262nd overall) of the
2022 NFL draft, making him that year's
Mr. Irrelevant.
The Athletic later obtained the scouting report of another NFL team that evaluated Purdy but opted not to draft him; the report described Purdy as experienced and "works through his progressions very well" but "not a very good athlete...limited arm, both in strength and throw repertoire." After observing Purdy's subsequent performance in his first NFL season, the coach who authored the report told
The Athletic that while Purdy's record in college was impressive, "The requirement to juke people and outrun people in college is a lot lower than it is in the NFL... In college, they might be able to outrun that D-end or pull away from that linebacker, but they got hawked down in the NFL. But Purdy has kinda maintained that and almost surpassed his level of agility in the NFL." The coach indicated that Purdy's performance in his first NFL season would likely have warranted being drafted in the second or third round, saying: "We undervalued his agility and probably the mental side, and San Francisco is perfect for it because they put a lot of importance on that because of their offense." In October 2023, former 49er quarterback and
Hall of Fame member
Steve Young opined that Purdy was overlooked in the draft because his calmness under pressure would not have been apparent: "...the [quarterback] position is really about guile and an innate gift from heaven, in some ways, to be able to have your heart rate go down when everyone else is in anxiety and pressure... But in the NFL, very few are naturally at peace. And that's why when I compare him to
Patrick Mahomes, I'm comparing him to how Patrick feels at peace. We all grew into it. Some guys just show up. Patrick showed up at peace, and so did Brock. The draft doesn't understand that thing."
2022 Trey Lance was named the starter over
Jimmy Garoppolo for the 2022 season, making Purdy the third-string quarterback. A week into training camp during the 2022 preseason, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan told 49ers CEO
Jed York that he thought Purdy was the team's best quarterback. According to York, Shanahan told him that nevertheless they would continue to invest in Lance as the starter: "Obviously we’ve invested in Trey and Trey's doing a good job and we're going to do everything that we can. We're not going to change that. And we're not going to change our depth chart. But I think Brock will end up being our quarterback." York publicly recounted this story ahead of Super Bowl LVIII, praising both Shanahan's candor and decision process: "...one thing that owners don't love to hear when they've invested money and/or draft picks or both into people is that the last pick in the draft is the guy that we think is the best. That’s generally not great news. But he's honest. And he let it play out the right way." Lance appeared in only two games before suffering a season-ending ankle injury against the
Seattle Seahawks in Week 2. During a Week 5 37–15 road victory over the
Carolina Panthers, Purdy made his NFL debut, taking a knee to close out the game. Two weeks later against the
Kansas City Chiefs, he relieved Garoppolo on the 49ers' last drive, throwing for 66 yards and an interception in the 44–23 loss. 49ers CEO York later said that Purdy's performance gave him some doubts: "I think Brock threw one ball into the stands. And I may or may not have had some sarcastic comments for Kyle postgame." Purdy became the first 'Mr. Irrelevant' to throw a touchdown pass in a regular season game. Following Garoppolo's injury, Purdy was named the 49ers' starting quarterback for the remainder of the 2022 season. On December 11, Purdy became the only quarterback in his first career start to beat a team led by
Tom Brady, when the 49ers defeated the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35–7. Purdy finished the game with 185 passing yards and two passing touchdowns to go along with a two-yard rushing touchdown. After the game, the 49ers sent out a tweet dubbing Purdy "Mr. Relevant." In the next game against the Seahawks, Purdy had 17-for-26 passing with 217 yards and two touchdowns, both to
George Kittle, during the 21–13 victory as the 49ers clinched the
NFC West. Purdy became the second player in NFL history, after
Aaron Rodgers, to record a cumulative
total quarterback rating of 115 or greater in his first two starts. During a Week 16 37–20 victory over the
Washington Commanders, Purdy had 234 passing yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. In the next game against the
Las Vegas Raiders, he threw for 284 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception during the 37–34 overtime road victory. On January 12, 2023, the NFL named Purdy as the
National Football Conference (NFC)'s Rookie of the Month for December and January. Purdy finished the regular season throwing for 1,374 yards for 13 touchdowns and four interceptions, winning all five of his starts and leading the 49ers to the second seed in the playoffs. Purdy's passer rating of 119.4 through his five starts is the highest for a quarterback in his first five starts since
Kurt Warner in
1999. He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team. In the Wild Card Round against the Seahawks, Purdy became the first 49ers rookie quarterback to start and win a playoff game, while putting him 6–0 in career starts. During the 41–23 victory, he completed 18-of-30 passes for 332 yards and scored four total touchdowns (three passing, one rushing), the most by a rookie quarterback in a playoff game. With this victory, Purdy also became the lowest-drafted quarterback to start and win a playoff game, and became the first rookie quarterback since
Sammy Baugh in 1937 to have at least 200 pass yards and two pass scores in a playoff win. This also made Purdy the first rookie quarterback to do so since the
AFL–NFL merger. With the 49ers' subsequent 19–12 victory in the Divisional Round over the
Dallas Cowboys, Purdy became the third quarterback since 1970 to win two playoff games in his rookie season with the others being
Mark Sanchez and
Joe Flacco (later matched by
Jayden Daniels). Although throwing no touchdowns in this game, Purdy completed 19-of-29 passes for 214 yards, which also made him the first rookie quarterback since 1970 to throw over 200 yards in consecutive NFL postseason games. During the first quarter of the
NFC Championship Game against the
Philadelphia Eagles, Purdy suffered an injury to his right elbow. He was replaced by
Josh Johnson. Following Johnson's concussion in the third quarter, Purdy reentered the game, though he would only throw two more passes; Purdy was primarily tasked with handing off the ball to his teammates. The 49ers would go on to lose on the road 31–7. Purdy was diagnosed with a complete tear of his
ulnar collateral ligament, which rendered him unable to throw the ball more than 10 yards.
2023 After a successful recovery from injury, Purdy was named the starting quarterback to begin the
2023 season, over
Sam Darnold,
Brandon Allen, and
Trey Lance, the lattermost later being traded to the Cowboys. During the season-opening 30–7 road victory over the
Pittsburgh Steelers, Purdy completed 19-of-29 passing attempts for 220 yards, two touchdowns (both to
Brandon Aiyuk), and a passer rating of 111.3. With the 49ers' win and two touchdown passes on the day, Purdy became the first quarterback in NFL history to win his first six career regular season starts and throw at least two touchdown passes in each of those starts. With a passer rating of 111.3, Purdy also became the first quarterback in NFL history to register a passer rating of 95.0 or higher in each of his first six career regular-season starts. Three weeks later the
Arizona Cardinals, the 49ers won by a score of 35–16 with Purdy completing 20-of-21 passes for 283 yards and a touchdown, setting a new 49ers franchise record for highest single-game completion rate of 95.2%. The prior franchise record of 90% had been set by Steve Young in Week 8 of the
1991 season. During a Week 5 42–10 victory over the Cowboys, Purdy completed 17-of-24 passes for 252 yards and four touchdowns. With this victory, Purdy became the fourth quarterback in NFL history (after Kurt Warner,
Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady) to lead a team that scored 30 points or more in at least 8 consecutive regular season games. The following week against the
Cleveland Browns, Purdy suffered his first regular season loss after rookie kicker
Jake Moody missed a 41-yard field goal as time expired in the fourth quarter. Purdy finished the narrow 19–17 road loss completing 12-of-27 passes for 125 yards, a touchdown, and an interception for a 55.3 passer rating. Purdy entered concussion protocol following a Week 7 road loss to the
Minnesota Vikings after experiencing symptoms on the flight home. However, he was cleared in time for the next game against the
Cincinnati Bengals, which the 49ers lost 31–17. During a Week 10 34–3 road victory over the
Jacksonville Jaguars, Purdy threw for 296 yards and three touchdowns, setting a new career record passer rating of 148.9. This was the third time in his NFL career that Purdy had thrown at least three touchdowns with a passer rating of 140 or more; the only other NFL quarterback to have done the same in his first two seasons is Kurt Warner. In the next game against the Buccaneers, Purdy completed 21-of-25 passes for 333 yards and three touchdowns for a
perfect passer rating of 158.3. This was the first time a 49ers quarterback achieved a perfect passer rating since
Joe Montana in
1989, and the only time a 49ers quarterback has accomplished that feat with 25 or more attempts in a game. Purdy was subsequently named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week and
FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week for his performance. Two weeks later against the Eagles, Purdy completed 19-of-27 passes for 314 yards and four touchdowns as the 49ers won on the road 42–19. He was again named FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week. During a Week 14 28–16 victory over the Seahawks, Purdy threw for 368 yards and two touchdowns with a completion rate of 70.4%, and was named FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week for the second week in a row. During a Week 15 45–29 road victory over the Cardinals, Purdy led the 49ers to a second consecutive NFC West title as he completed 16-of-25 passes for 245 yards and four touchdowns with a passer rating of 135.3. Purdy left the game in the second quarter and was assessed in the medical tent for what head coach
Kyle Shanahan believed was a head injury, but Purdy eventually returned to the game after the medical staff assessed that Purdy had a shoulder stinger. Backup quarterback Darnold substituted Purdy for three plays while he was in the medical tent. In the next game against the
Baltimore Ravens, Purdy completed 18-of-32 passes for 255 yards, no touchdowns, and four interceptions during the 33–19 loss. His 255 passing yards allowed him to surpass 4,000 passing yards in a season, the first 49ers quarterback to do so since
Jeff Garcia in 2000. The following week against the Commanders, Purdy threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns as the 49ers won on the road 27–10, surpassing Garcia's franchise season passing yards record by two yards. On January 3, 2024, Shanahan stated that Purdy would not play in the regular-season finale against the
Los Angeles Rams. Later that day, the NFL announced that Purdy had been selected as the NFC's starting quarterback for the
2024 Pro Bowl Games. He completed the regular season leading the league in passer rating, total quarterback rating, and yards gained per attempt. At home against the
Green Bay Packers in the
Divisional Round, Purdy struggled with accuracy in rainy conditions as the 49ers trailed entering the fourth quarter. Despite his struggles, Purdy engineered a 12-play, 69-yard drive that culminated with
Christian McCaffrey scoring a go-ahead touchdown with under two minutes left as the 49ers won 24–21. Purdy was 6-of-7 for 47 yards on the game-winning drive and finished the game completing 23 of his 39 passes for 252 yards and a touchdown. In the
NFC Championship Game against the
Detroit Lions, Purdy only completed seven of his 15 pass attempts for 93 yards and an interception as San Francisco trailed 24–7 at halftime. In the second half, Purdy completed 13-of-16 passes for 174 yards and a touchdown. He also scrambled for 49 rushing yards as he rallied the 49ers from a 17-point deficit at halftime to win 34–31, advancing to
Super Bowl LVIII. Purdy became the lowest drafted quarterback to start a Super Bowl. In the Super Bowl, Purdy completed 23-of-38 passes for 255 yards and a touchdown in a 25–22 overtime loss to the
Kansas City Chiefs. He was ranked 28th by his fellow players on the
NFL Top 100 Players of 2024.
2024 In Week 5 against the
Arizona Cardinals, Purdy made his 50th career touchdown pass after passing to
George Kittle. He also became the fastest quarterback in 49ers franchise history to achieve 50 career touchdown passes. Purdy finished the 2024 season with 3,864 passing yards and 20 passing touchdowns to 12 interceptions for a 96.1 passer rating. This statistical regression in comparison to his 2023 campaign was largely attributed to injuries suffered by several of the 49ers' most productive pass-catchers, with both
Brandon Aiyuk and
Christian McCaffrey absent for the majority of the season. However, Purdy had his most successful season to date on the ground, rushing for 323 yards and leading the team with five rushing touchdowns. The 49ers as a whole struggled with injuries in 2024, ending with a 6–11 record and failing to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2020. In addition to Aiyuk and McCaffrey,
Trent Williams,
Nick Bosa,
Dre Greenlaw,
Talanoa Hufanga,
Jordan Mason, and
Mitch Wishnowsky all missed significant playing time. Purdy himself did not play in two games (a Week 12 loss to the
Green Bay Packers and a Week 18 loss to the Cardinals) due to injuries he sustained to his right shoulder and elbow. He also briefly exited the Week 14 win over the
Chicago Bears after getting hurt on a hard hit to the head.
2025 On May 20, 2025, Purdy signed a five-year, $265 million contract extension with the 49ers. On September 7, during the season opener against the
Seattle Seahawks, Purdy suffered injuries to his left shoulder and toe, with the latter being the greater issue of the two. On September 12, Purdy was ruled out for the week 2 matchup against the
New Orleans Saints.
Mac Jones was named the starting quarterback for the 49ers after Purdy's injury. On December 22, Purdy put up 295 passing yards with a career-high five passing touchdowns in a 48–27 win over the
Indianapolis Colts in Week 16. The next week, Purdy again put up five total touchdowns (three passing, two rushing) alongside 303 passing yards and a 118.6 passer rating in a 42–38 victory over the
Chicago Bears. Purdy finished the season completing an equal career-high 69.4% of his passes for 2,167 yards, 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions as the 49ers were 7–2 in the nine games he started. In the
wild card round, Purdy overcame two interceptions to defeat the defending champion
Philadelphia Eagles 23–19. However, Purdy played poorly in the
divisional round game against Seattle, going just 15-for-27 and 140 yards with an interception in a 41–6 loss to end their season. ==Career statistics==