Brock Purdy’s comeback is in sight.
According to Matt Barrows of The Athletic, the 49ers quarterback had a successful follow-up with Texas Rangers team doctor Dr. Keith Meister last week and will undergo surgery Friday on his elbow. Purdy originally met with Meister on Feb. 21 and was scheduled to have an operation the following day but the surgery was delayed due to ongoing swelling.
Purdy is expected to avoid Tommy John reconstructive surgery and get his UCL repaired, with about six months needed to recover from his injury. With surgery set for March 10, that puts his return target date on Sept. 10, which will likely be the first Sunday of the regular season.
Last week at the NFL scouting combine, 49ers general manager John Lynch was non-committal when asked about the potential six-month timeline for Purdy.
“Every person’s different, so timelines are just that, they’re guidelines, but we’ll see,” Lynch said. “The reality is the majority of these are done on baseball players. This is not a baseball injury. Even the way in which it happened, Brock’s going to throw on and a 250-pound man with an opposing force, it’s a different injury and so, the outcomes are different and we’ll see where it goes.”
Trey Lance has been working out individually recently as he recovers from a foot/ankle injury. Considering Purdy probably won’t be back on the team practice field until at least Week 1, Lance has the chance to establish himself this summer as QB1 heading into the fall.
We’ll have to see how the 49ers respond in free agency, when there will be a bevy of veterans available on the market. The 2023 league year begins on March 15 and there is usually a flood of moves in those first couple days, so we could get more clarity on the situation by then.
Mike Silver recently reported for Bally Sports that the 49ers are considering veterans Matt Ryan, Jacoby Brissett and Andy Dalton.
According to Field Yates of ESPN, the 49ers ($237.5 million) will have the third-highest salary cap figure in 2023 after adjustments are taken into effect.
Considering both Purdy and Lance are returning from serious injuries, it would behoove the 49ers to add a solid option as a backup. Jimmy Garoppolo is likely to land a starting gig elsewhere and Lynch doused any chances of an unlikely reunion during his comments last week.
No matter how you slice it, there’s probably going to be another quarterback coming to The Bay in the near future.
