Ask different San Francisco 49ers fans or read the work of some people who cover the team, and you'll absorb a wide range of thoughts about quarterback Brock Purdy. He's better than people think, they shouldn't pay him what the market will bear, etc.
There's a new one out there, with Grant Cohn of SI.com suggesting there should be an open competition between Purdy and Jones for the starting job.
It's well known that head coach Kyle Shanahan liked Jones going into the 2021 draft, but the Niners instead took Trey Lance after trading up to No. 3 overall. We know how that worked out.
So signing Jones to a two-year deal, with Purdy's contract situation being what it is, lands interestingly. Purdy doesn't seem likely to stage a holdout if a contract extension isn't done this offseason, but the 49ers now have an interesting and ironic contingency plan if he does.
In a mailbag post published on Wednesday, Matt Barrows of The Athletic addressed a question about the signing of Jones possibly being a "shot across Brock Purdy's bow" from Shanahan:
"I agree that Jones gives the 49ers a bit more leverage in the Purdy negotiations. Jones, after all, was someone Shanahan once considered for the No. 3 pick. Having him at QB2 is more of a statement than having, say, Brandon Allen there."
Jones stands as a noticeable upgrade over whom San Francisco had as Purdy's backup, previously. But is that rooted in his name, Shanahan's professed past affinity for him and/or that he was a first-round pick? The sample size for Jones is big enough to draw conclusions about who he is as a quarterback, and it shows a backup/spot starter. And there's nothing wrong with that. People befitting that profile have had long, lucrative careers.
Brock Purdy should have no fear of losing his job to Mac Jones
There are ideas out there about the 49ers trading Purdy, or teams making trade offers, if contract talks stall. There's a chance of that (however incredibly remote), but trading Purdy would go against everything San Francisco has said about him publicly.
In contrast to Barrows, Jacob Robinson of The Athletic dismissed the idea of Jones impacting contract talks with Purdy using some data. Among 64 quarterbacks who have thrown at least 200 passes since he was drafted in 2022, Purdy ranks first in EPA per dropback, first in yards per attempt and second in passer rating.
Robinson also highlighted what the 49ers have done this offseason and the cap space they have in 2026 (10th-most in the league right now, according to Over The Cap) as obvious indications they are planning to pay Purdy.
Until the Niners and Purdy get a contract extension done, the idea of Jones replacing him won't completely go away.
But unless something changes drastically, and drastically might not be a strong enough word, Jones is no threat to take the starting job from Purdy.