Former Heisman winner Robert Griffin III defended Alabama product Mac Jones amidst rumors he was being shopped by Patriots head coach Bill Belichick following a 2022 season that saw the New England quarterback’s regress from his rookie season across the board.
The Patriots have reportedly shopped Mac Jones to other teams this off-season. Trying to trade him after giving him a defensive coordinator as his Offensive Coordinator and a special teams coach as his QB Coach last year is MIND BLOWING.
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) April 4, 2023
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“The Patriots have reportedly shopped Mac Jones to other teams this off-season,” Griffin tweeted. “Trying to trade him after giving him a defensive coordinator as his Offensive Coordinator and a special teams coach as his QB Coach last year is mind-blowing.”
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio had previously reported Belichick’s reported plan to trade Jones away during the 2023 offseason.
“Following the posting of the item regarding the lingering tension between coach Bill Belichick and the 2021 first-rounder, more information has trickled in,” Florio said. “Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Belichick has shopped Jones to multiple teams during the 2023 offseason. Obviously, a trade hasn’t occurred yet. That doesn’t mean it won’t happen. A team hoping to draft a quarterback could pivot to Jones, if that team doesn’t get the guy it wants.”
Reported Potential Mac Jones Destinations
Florio listed several potential destinations for Jones, which included teams with top picks in the 2023 NFL draft and even a recent Super Bowl champion.
“The full list of potential destinations isn’t known,” Florio prefaced before saying, “The teams mentioned as potential destinations were the Raiders, Texans, Buccaneers, and Commanders.”
Las Vegas, in particular, is a team of interest due to Jimmy Garoppolo’s “middle class” quarterback salary — which was still $72 million over three years with $45 million of that guaranteed for reference — potentially facilitating another rookie-scale signal-caller salary.
“The Raiders are the ones to keep watching,” Florio said. “Jimmy Garoppolo‘s contract lands in the low-end of middle class for starters, and Jones has two years left under a slotted rookie deal, before his fifth-year option would apply.”
Patriots Owner a Fan of Mac Jones
What may ultimately keep Jones in a Patriots uniform, as Florio notes, is owner Bob Kraft’s appreciation and admiration for the former Crimson Tide quarterback.
“While Kraft continues to defer to Belichick when it comes to running “my football team,” Kraft may not be thrilled about the prospect of parting ways with Jones,” Florio wrote. “And Kraft seems to be sympathetic to frustrations that trace to the failed offensive experiment in 2022, with Matt Patricia serving as the coordinator.”
Kraft told reporters at the annual owners meeting on March 27 that he’s a big fan of Jones and what he was able to accomplish in his 2021 rookie season.
“I’m a big fan of Mac,” Kraft said. “He came to us as a rookie. He quarterbacked in his rookie season and did a very fine job I thought. We made the playoffs. I think we experimented with some things last year that frankly didn’t work when it came to him, in my opinion.”
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Former Heisman Winner Sends Strong Message About Mac Jones Trade Rumors