Heading into the offseason, it seemed pretty reasonable to assume the San Francisco 49ers would trade backup quarterback Mac Jones. He proved last season that he is capable of being a starting signal-caller, and the Niners already have Brock Purdy and needed some more draft capital.
It seems Jones’ trade market never really materialized, but that may have more to do with the Niners asking for a lot in return. They clearly value him a lot and think highly of him. Plus, over the years, the 49ershave learned how important it is to have a competent backup behind your starter.
Jones himself was seemingly content to stay put. He has talked a lot about how coming to San Francisco taught him how to have fun while playing football again. From all of his smiles and goofy laughs over the last year, it's clear he’s enjoying himself again, which is great to see.
Yet, Jones may not be content to stay just because he likes the situation he’s in. Perhaps there is part of him that thinks he could be the quarterback of the future for San Francisco.
It may seem crazy, but remember that for literally half of last season, there were heated debates about whether Jones was just as good as, if not better than, Purdy. Once Purdy returned late in the season from his toe injury and lit it up for a few weeks, that chatter quieted down, but everyone knows it will ramp right back up again if Purdy goes down with an injury or if he struggles a few weeks in a row.
Imagine a scenario: Purdy goes down early in the season and is done for the year. Jones steps in yet again, plays well, and leads the 49ers to the playoffs. Maybe it’s a repeat of last year, and they win in the Wild Card round but lose their divisional matchup.
What does San Francisco do at that point? If Purdy were to miss basically an entire season, then there would be legitimate concerns about how durable he is as a starting quarterback in the NFL. There have already been concerns about his ability to stay on the field, so it would be difficult to count on him for 17 games.
It would be so hard to let Jones walk in free agency, especially if he proved yet again that he can be successful in head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense. Yet, he likely wouldn’t want to stay with the Niners and just be a backup to Purdy. He’d probably only stay with San Francisco if he was going to be the starter.
That would create quite the conundrum for San Francisco. Would the team trade Purdy and keep Jones? Stick with Purdy? It would be the ultimate quarterback controversy.
The 49ers will obviously be hoping to avoid that. If Purdy stays healthy and plays well, then he will be the starter. But maybe somewhere in Jones’ mind, he’s thinking there’s a path to him becoming the guy in San Francisco.
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