Sam Darnold entered the year as the San Francisco 49ers' new backup quarterback after five unfruitful seasons with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers. His career outlook at the time looked bleak.

Of the 25 names released by the NFL who cashed in, Purdy came in at No. 16 and he wasn’t even the highest 49er player on the list. That went to rookie guard Dominick Puni, who received $898,036 after playing all but one snap in 17 games after being a third-round draft pick out of Kansas.

During a recent appearance on San Francisco sports radio station KNBR, 49ers reporter Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group offered a timeline for when the club should want to get the Purdy deal done with the 25-year-old now in the final year of his inexpensive rookie contract.