The San Francisco 49ers didn’t do ‘any work’ on Patrick Mahomes ahead of the 2017 NFL Draft – but they ended up with a brilliant quarterback in Brock Purdy regardless

The 49ers did little to no work on Patrick Mahomes heading into the 2017 NFL Draft – but it led them to getting Brock Purdy (
Image: Getty)

The San Francisco 49ers missed out on Patrick Mahomes in the 2017 NFL Draft, but this led them to Brock Purdy five years later.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter explained how the 49ers ended up with Purdy, who guided the team to Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas last month. The 49ers suffered a narrow 25-22 defeat to Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime in the NFL championship game.

Schefter explained: “The draft where the 49ers in 2017 had the second overall pick, Patrick Mahomes was in that draft, and they didn’t do any work on him because they thought the following offseason Kirk Cousins was leaving Washington (Commanders).”

Yet their plans changed when they were offered Jimmy Garoppolo from the New England Patriots halfway through the season. Schefter added: “What happens is New England calls up San Francisco that Halloween and is like, ‘Hey we got to move on from Jimmy Garoppolo, just give us a two (second-round pick).’ Well, they do that, so that blows up the Kirk Cousins plan.”

The 49ers did research on another quarterback from Mahomes’ draft class – CJ Beathard – who they picked in the third round. When Beathard left for the Jacksonville Jaguars a few years later, the 49ers got a seventh-round pick as compensation, which they used to get Purdy in 2022.

Purdy has certainly made his mark on the 49ers after being drafted due to injuries to Garoppolo and former first-rounder Trey Lance. The young star led the team to two NFC Championship games and even a Super Bowl appearance in just his second season.

This season, Purdy threw an impressive 4,280 yards and 31 touchdowns. However, they couldn’t overcome the Chiefs at Super Bowl LVIII.

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Purdy and Mahomes did battle at Super Bowl LVIII (
Image:
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Despite his success, Purdy will only earn $870,000 (£685,1500) this year due to his low rookie contract and late drafting. But he’s definitely setting himself up for a big payday when it’s time for a renewal.

“The way things have been the last couple of years here, everyone wanted it so bad. So, I think we’re still trying to sort of gather our thoughts and everything right now. But everyone in that locker room loves each other, I’ll tell you that.”

Mahomes spoke very highly of Purdy last month, calling the 49ers star “a winner”. He added: “He’s done a great job these last two years that he’s played, He does a great job extending plays, he does a great job making the throws.”

* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story.