There’s nothing like an unnamed executive to spark some peculiar discourse. In the latest edition of San Francisco 49ers quarterback discussions, Mike Sando of The Athletic wrote about the possibility of the Niners trading signal-caller Brock Purdy.

Yes, you read that right. Per Sando, an NFL executive told him the 49ers “‘need to make a decision about whether they should just be moving on from this older core and building around Purdy, or do they trade Purdy, get stuff for him, and go with a cheaper option at quarterback?’”

The executive sighted a logic that has long been a favorite theory for roster building from analysts outside front offices. The premise is straightforward.

Unless a quarterback is a future Hall of Famer, rotate through signal-callers on rookie contracts. With Purdy approaching the end of his rookie contract, when he will likely command a contract with an average annual value of $50-$60 million, the Niners could consider trading him to recoup some draft capital and free up their salary cap.

However, there’s a reason that no team has put this strategy into practice. Quarterback is the most important position on the team, and trusting any collection of unproven young players carries tremendous risk. Add in the value for leadership and team chemistry that continuity creates, and a team would need to be incredibly confident that they have an upgrade in waiting.

It’s worth noting that Sando spoke with several front office executives for his piece, and only one mentioned shopping Purdy. Even that person was unwilling to say they should actually make that move.

There is really no reason to believe the Niners are even considering making such a move. The 49ers have never really employed any radical roster-building strategies under Shanahan, consistently abandoning more analytics-heavy models with their draft day trades.

Moreover, Shanahan has always been extremely conservative with his handling of the quarterback position. After spending seasons refusing to contemplate moving on from Jimmy Garoppolo, then living to regret an aggressive play for Trey Lance, it would be quite shocking to see Shanahan so quickly move on from Purdy.