Getty The New England Patriots' Mac Jones and Zach Wilson of the New York Jets.
Despite signing quarterback Sam Darnold, the San Francisco 49ers have been linked to everyone from Tom Brady to Kirk Cousins to Aaron Rodgers. On April 4, Mike Florio added another name to that list: Mac Jones of the New England Patriots.
Florio, appearing on Tom E. Curran’s “Patriots Talk Podcast,” suggested the 49ers swap starting quarterbacks.
“How about Mac Jones for Trey Lance? Straight up. Wouldn’t that be something? I’m kidding — unless I think about it some more and realize I shouldn’t be kidding. … Why not Trey Lance for Mac Jones?” Florio said on the show. “I don’t know if the Patriots would want Trey Lance, but when you look at the struggles Bill [Belichick, Patriots coach] has had against mobile quarterbacks as a defensive coach, why wouldn’t you want to try to get the most you could out of a quarterback with real mobility?”
According to a Florio report from that day, the Patriots shopped Jones, their third-year starting quarterback, to the Las Vegas Raiders, Houston Texans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Washington Commanders. He wrote that the full list of team whom the Patriots reached out to was not known, but he specifically did not note the 49ers as a possible trade partner.
The San Francisco 49ers Haven’t Inquired About Mac Jones
Discussing the Patriots’ interest in potentially trading away Jones in an April 4 article titled “Bill Belichick has shopped Mac Jones this offseason,” Florio noted a list of teams whom the Patriots have reached out to.
“The full list of potential destinations isn’t known,” Florio wrote. “The teams mentioned as potential destinations were the Raiders, Texans, Buccaneers, and Commanders.” He did not specifically mention the 49ers.
Mac Jones Was the Hot Name Linked to the 49ers in 2021
Heading into the 2021 draft, talent evaluators widely linked the 49ers to Jones once they traded up to get the third pick overall pick.
When San Francisco traded up, it was “shocking,” according to The Athletic’s Daniel Jeremiah.
“The majority of people around the league believe this is for Mac Jones,” Jeremiah said on a March 2021 episode of “The Athletic Football Show.” “Of the people that you would want to believe and put your faith in, the overwhelming majority of them believe this is going to be Mac Jones with that pick. So that’s what’s so shocking.”
The Niners then surprised observers by taking Lance with the pick. Jones fell to the Patriots at No. 15.
“All the speculation had been that the Niners would be trading up to select Jones, who had just come off the back of a National Championship title with Alabama, proving himself to be an accurate passer – something that Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan needs from his quarterback in his scheme,” The Mirror’s Charlie Wilson wrote on April 6. “As the story goes, though, the Niners had their heads turned by Lance, and selected him due to his rushing ability and explosive, but unproven, traits.”
Through their first two NFL seasons, Jones has had more chances to prove himself, with 1,895 naps in 31 games, compared with Lance’s 262 snaps in eight games. After Lance went down with an injury in Week 1 last season, the Niners looked to veteran Jimmy Garoppolo and then rookie Brock Purdy to lead the 49ers.