Brock Purdy has a lot of football to play before the 49ers can reward him with a new contract.

But don’t expect this process to be as lengthy as the negotiations that took place during training camp with 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and left tackle Trent Williams.

When the 49ers show up for their first day of the 2025 offseason program, they need to fix the situation. They need their quarterback in the building.

And now the situation seems to be developing in such a way that this will actually happen.

The final major domino fell Sunday morning when the Dallas Cowboys signed quarterback Dak Prescott to a four-year, $240 million contract extension. Prescott is now the highest-paid player in the NFL, averaging $60 million per year over the course of his extension.

It was expected in NFL circles that Prescott and the Cowboys would play out this season. That would mean Prescott would sign a big deal — $65 million a year, perhaps — with the Cowboys or another team.

Only after Prescott completed his contract were the 49ers and Purdy expected to agree to a multi-year contract extension for less than what Prescott would receive.

Now, it appears everything is falling into place for Purdy and the 49ers early in the offseason. There’s nothing stopping them — except the calendar.

NFL players are not allowed to renegotiate their contracts until their third season. This is Purdy’s third year in the NFL and the most important season to determine where he fits on the league’s salary scale.

Purdy’s original contract, as the last overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, was a four-year deal worth a total of $3.7 million.

Purdy, who finished fourth in NFL MVP voting last season, is currently the 49ers’ 41st-highest-paid player.

He’ll be the team’s highest-paid player by far in a year. But first he’ll have to keep his game up to the level the 49ers expect him to play in 27 career starts (21 regular season, six postseason).

Purdy could benefit from the timing of a new contract, which would come with a higher salary cap and the precedent that many other top quarterbacks are already being paid.

Behind Prescott are Green Bay’s Jordan Love, Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence and Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow, worth $55 million per season.

Also joining the $50 million club are Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa, Detroit’s Jared Goff, the Chargers’ Justin Herbert, Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson and Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts.

This is the final season that the 49ers’ starting quarterback will play on a minimum contract, but that doesn’t mean the team’s roster needs a major overhaul.

The 2024 season doesn’t have to be the team’s last chance at a championship. Not even close.

The large amount of money on Purdy’s contract won’t have much impact on the team’s salary cap in 2025 or 2026 — and maybe not in 2027 either.

Of course, the 49ers will have to make some decisions going forward about which players on their current roster to re-sign or which free agents to acquire. But the 49ers haven’t made any major spending sprees in free agency anyway.

The benefits of making a large financial investment in a quarterback far outweigh the disadvantages of spending a lot of salary cap space on a player at that position.

If Purdy proves once again that he is worthy of a big contract, the 49ers organization will be in great shape for the next few seasons.

After all, Purdy is 24 years old and has a lot of good football ahead of him, and any team with a franchise quarterback is always a serious contender.

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