Sam Darnold entered the year as the San Francisco 49ers' new backup quarterback after five unfruitful seasons with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers. His career outlook at the time looked bleak.

Of the 25 names released by the NFL who cashed in, Purdy came in at No. 16 and he wasn’t even the highest 49er player on the list. That went to rookie guard Dominick Puni, who received $898,036 after playing all but one snap in 17 games after being a third-round draft pick out of Kansas.

Quarterback Sam Darnold was introduced by the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday, two days after agreeing to a three-year, $100.5 million free-agent deal with the team. Darnold had the best season of his career going into free agency,