“Everyone calls him checkdown merchant” - George Kittle torches Brock Purdy's haters with straightforward stat check

George Kittle defended his quarterback after signing a huge contract extension this offseason. On Monday, the San Francisco 49ers tight end was asked if Brock Purdy was worth the deal he was given by the organization in May.

“I would say, I don’t know what his winning percentage is, but when you win a lot of games, for two years to go to the NFC championship game or better, I think that’s decent,” Kittle said (02:41), via “The Rich Eisen Show.” “One of my favourite things about Purdy is that everyone calls him a checkdown merchant, and then the last two years he has the least amount of checkdowns in the NFL, so I think he’s doing pretty well.”

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On May 20, Purdy signed a five-year extension worth $265 million. He was 6-9 as the starter in 2024, the season after he guided Kittle and the 49ers to the Super Bowl. However, they lost in overtime to the Kansas City Chiefs.

With Purdy under center, San Francisco has been to one Super Bowl and two NFC championship games in his three NFL seasons. In 2023, he led the league in passing yards per game (9.6) and passer rating (113.0).

Purdy has a winning percentage of .639, slightly lower than Jimmy Garoppolo's .691.

Brock Purdy’s added protection

Pass protection was an issue for Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers last season. They battled through injuries, and Purdy was sacked 31 times — the most in his NFL career.

This offseason, they signed tight end Luke Farrell, brought back fullback Kyle Juszczyk and added offensive tackle Nicolas Petit-Frere.

While the new additions are expected to help, a healthy Trent Williams is likely the key piece that’ll give Purdy the time to find open receivers. Williams missed time last season due to an ankle injury but appears to be back at 100%. He has been selected to the Pro Bowl 11 times, and was named a First-team All-Pro thrice.

Williams is under contract until the end of the 2026 campaign, and the former Consensus All-American has been a with San Francisco since 2020.

Edited by Victor Ramon Galvez