Brock Purdy likes what he sees in Mike Evans, and the San Francisco 49ers are about to find out how far that fit can carry them. The quarterback said Wednesday night that he watched Tampa Bay Buccaneers film with the veteran receiver and believes Evans sees the game “like a quarterback does.”
The 49ers will hold organized team activities next Wednesday through Friday, with Purdy and the veterans set to join the rookies on the practice field next week. That gives San Francisco its first real chance this spring to put together a group that was battered by injuries last season but still won 12 games and another in the playoffs.
Purdy made his comments at a Dwight Clark Legacy Series event, where he talked through the team’s ceiling and the challenge of getting there healthy. He said San Francisco “obviously” has what it takes to go all the way when it is at full strength, but added that being full strength is never guaranteed. “Guys are ready to go,” he said, describing a locker room that does not spend time admiring its own depth chart. “When it’s said and done, we want to come back like all these guys and have rings on our fingers and celebrate those key wins and moments with the history of 49ers,” he said. “That’s what’s on our mind, so we got to do it.”
Evans arrived after 12 seasons with the Buccaneers, and Purdy said the receiver left Tampa Bay because he felt he had a better chance to win a Super Bowl in San Francisco. The quarterback also said Evans is the sort of player who can elevate his game because he sees defenses in a way that mirrors a passer’s perspective. Purdy said that is different from the usual receiver who simply runs the route as coached, and he called Evans a Hall of Famer whose feel for the game can help take his play to another level.
The 49ers did more than add Evans. They also brought in defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa, expect Fred Warner and Nick Bosa back on the field, and enter the spring with roughly $70 million in salary-cap space. General manager John Lynch has already said free-agent edge rusher Joey Bosa is too expensive, which leaves lower-cost options such as Cameron Jordan and Jadeveon Clowney in the conversation if San Francisco keeps shopping for help.
That spending power matters because the team drafted with an eye to the future rather than 2026, and some of the rookies may have a chance to move quickly. Purdy said second-round rookie De’Zhaun Stribling can make an “instant impact,” while fourth-round rookie Carver Willis will need to beat out Robert Jones and Connor Colby after playing left tackle in college and projecting to guard in the pros. For a team trying to turn a strong season into something bigger, the first test is not in January. It starts next week, when the veterans finally join the rookies and the 49ers begin to see whether the pieces they added can hold up together on the field.
