Every time if feels like the 49ers have the quarterback position figured out, something happens.
They had Jimmy Garoppolo. He took them to a Super Bowl. He had a chance to win the game. He missed an open Emmanuel Sanders.
A year later, the 49ers decided to make a bold move in the draft to get Garoppolo’s successor. They traded up to the third overall pick. Many believed the target was Mac Jones. The pick was Trey Lance. It didn’t work out.
The next year, with the last pick in the draft, the 49ers selected Brock Purdy. He won six straight starts to end his rookie regular season, before suffering a serious elbow injury early in the NFC Championship.
Purdy cemented his grip on the job in 2023, when he took the 49ers to the Super Bowl. While last year didn’t go nearly well (he was 6-9 as the starter and the 49ers missed the playoffs), the 49ers decided to reward Purdy with a significant contract, at five new years and a new-money average of $53 million.
In his first game with his new deal, Purdy suffered multiple injuries. That opened the door for Mac Jones, who signed a two-year, $8.41 million contract in the offseason to serve as Purdy’s understudy. Jones won two starts. On Sunday, Purdy returned and aggravated the injury in a loss to the Jaguars. Re-enter Jones, who got the 49ers’ “B” team to bring their A+ game against the Rams.
On the broadcast, Al Michaels mentioned multiple times the possibility of a quarterback controversy. And while coach Kyle Shanahan got no questions after the game as to what will happen when Purdy is healthy, Shanahan pushed back on the report that Purdy’s wounded toe will cause him miss another game.
As to Jones, Shanahan was asked only if he views the backup as a “starting-caliber quarterback.”
“Oh yeah, definitely,” Shanahan said. “Yeah, always have.”
The question is whether Shanahan will see enough from Jones to get Shanahan to think differently about the depth chart. After last night’s performance, when Jones was repeatedly banged around and kept on firing, how could Shanahan not at least wonder whether Jones could take the team farther than Purdy will?
The best news for the 49ers is that they signed Jones to a two-year deal. And they are financially tied to Purdy for only two years. By the time the end of the 2026 season rolls around, there’s a good chance the long-term choice will become clear.
For now, it’s anything but.
