He might not be saying anything new, but ESPN's Adam Schefter (h/t David Bonilla of 49ers Webzone) recently reported the San Francisco 49ers aren't planning to use backup quarterback Mac Jones as a potential trade chip during the NFL Draft this upcoming weekend.
"One quarterback not expected to go anywhere is San Francisco's Mac Jones, whose market never heated up this offseason," Schefter said in his report.
Jones' market heading into the offseason was originally expected to be robust, especially after he helped the Niners go 5-3 during an injury-related absence to their starter, Brock Purdy. By completing nearly 70 percent of his passes, Jones surely helped resurrect his otherwise floundering career.
And with another former San Francisco backup, Sam Darnold, helping the Seattle Seahawks win the Super Bowl last February, one could've easily concluded quarterback-needy teams would eagerly seek out reclamation projects as options under center.
But Jones' market never truly got hot, and the 49ers regularly insisted they were planning on retaining their QB2 into 2026 anyway.
So, understandably, other teams moved on. The Minnesota Vikings grabbed former Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, while the Las Vegas Raiders inked Kirk Cousins to be a mentor to the (likely) No. 1 overall pick in the draft, Indiana's Fernando Mendoza.
Granted, the Niners may explore trading Jones later this offseason, perhaps during training camp if another squad's starter winds up suffering some sort of devastating injury.
Or San Francisco simply opts to stick with what's been reported all along: keeping Jones around another year.
Either way, fans can pretty much expect Jones' name not to be mentioned leading up to (and during) the three-day draft.
And they may not hear his name discussed as trade bait at all throughout the balance of 2026.
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