The San Francisco 49ers have been knocking on the door of winning a Super Bowl repeatedly over the past five to ten years, most recently coming as close as a team possibly can without winning it when the Kansas City Chiefs beat them in the first overtime in Super Bowl history two years ago.
The Niners got that far with quarterback Brock Purdy on a rookie deal as a seventh-round pick, and now, he is one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the sport after signing a massive five-year, $265 million extension this offseason.
With that contract comes more pressure and more responsibility, and Colin Cowherd of The Herd recently questioned whether or not he can lead this team to where it needs to go as injuries, once again, continue to plague this offense.
“What happens when there’s fire starters? You’ve gotta come in, you’re the firefighter.”@colincowherd questions whether Brock Purdy can lead the 49ers as injuries continue to mount pic.twitter.com/bePvyFudWR
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) August 21, 2025
Christian McCaffrey’s health is still uncertain after missing nearly all of last year with calf issues.
Star receiver Brandon Aiyuk is out until likely Week 6 at the earliest as he works his way back from a torn ACL.
DeMarcus Robinson was suspended for three games, while Russell Gage, Jauan Jennings, and Jacob Cowing are all working their way through injuries as well.
On top of all that, Deebo Samuel is in Washington after being traded to the Commanders, so it’s unclear who Purdy is going to be throwing to in Week 1.
Cowherd touched on all this while discussing the team’s recent trade for Kansas City Chiefs’ wide receiver Skyy Moore, who could play a role right away, given all these injuries.
We’ll learn a lot about Purdy this season if this WR room can’t get healthy.
