The 49ers’ Super Bowl window appears tenuous. Their loaded roster will have to start coming apart as players get older and money becomes a factor. It’s the typical life cycle of Super Bowl contenders. They’re built up, players play well, those players get too expensive to keep, and then some form of rebuild begins. For San Francisco their window with their current core is closing, but their future window will be thrown wide open if the 33rd Team’s ranking of the top 25 players age 25 and under is accurate.
In their top 25 ranking there are five non-QBs at the top. Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson tops the list, followed by Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons, Lions left tackle Penei Sewell, Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner and Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb.
At No. 6 on the list is 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy. He sits one spot ahead of Texans QB CJ Stroud. Packers QB Jordan Love (No. 11) and Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence (No. 25) are the other signal callers on the list.
The top 25 players at 25 years old or under 💫 pic.twitter.com/wJS57niPPb
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) July 4, 2024
If the next decade or so shakes out this way where Purdy is one of the five or six best players in this age range, the 49ers losing some of the stars that have made up their core over the last half decade or so becomes less consequential.
QB play is so important for that exact reason. A great one can lower the bar for the necessary talent around him on offense, which makes building a team around an expensive QB significantly easier.
Should Purdy prove to be a QB who doesn’t need an elite supporting cast to succeed at the heights he reached a season ago, the 49ers Super Bowl window is suddenly as wide as the QB’s career. This will be the single biggest question mark for San Francisco over the next few seasons, and the franchise’s future will hinge on the optimism that Purdy will continue to be an elite signal caller with this core and beyond.
