{"id":669384,"date":"2026-01-11T18:08:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T18:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/669384\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T18:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T18:08:16","slug":"jets-should-consider-trading-for-former-first-round-pick-qb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/669384\/","title":{"rendered":"Jets Should Consider Trading for Former First-Round Pick QB"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The San Francisco 49ers might trade quarterback Mac Jones this offseason. If so, the New York Jets make sense as a landing spot.<\/p>\n<p>Jones isn\u2019t an elite signal-caller by any stretch of the imagination. However, he\u2019s a solid player who can make the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nfl.com\/standings\/\" target=\"_blank\">3-14<\/a> Jets a better football team.<\/p>\n<p>Jets Should Consider Trading for Quarterback Mac Jones<br \/>\nLooking Back at His Career<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/49ers-to-be-thankful-for-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"49ers to be thankful for\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" class=\"wp-image-255862 size-large\"  \/>San Francisco 49ers quarterback Mac Jones (10) celebrates with San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) after scoring a touchdown during a week 9 game between New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Mac Jones played three seasons of college football at Alabama. He\u00a0put together a superb junior season, throwing for 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns. Jones impressively posted a 203.1 passer rating and a 77.4 completion percentage, both NCAA season records. He also won the Davey O\u2019Brien, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm, and Manning Awards.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, Jones finished third for the Heisman Trophy and led Alabama to a national championship. He recorded 464 passing yards and five touchdowns in the championship game as the Crimson Tide beat Ohio State 52-24.<\/p>\n<p>Mac Jones then chose to forgo his final year of eligibility and enter the 2021 NFL Draft. The New England Patriots <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/31362233\/new-england-patriots-pick-alabama-crimson-tide-qb-mac-jones-no-15-pick-nfl-draft\" target=\"_blank\">selected<\/a> him 15th overall.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Jones had a great rookie season, starting all 17 games. He threw for 3,801 yards and 22 touchdowns while leading the Patriots to a 10-7 record. Jones also made the Pro Bowl and finished second in Offensive Rookie of the Year voting behind Ja\u2019Marr Chase of the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/bengals\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cincinnati Bengals<\/a>. He led the Patriots to the playoffs although they lost to the Buffalo Bills 47-17 in the Wild Card round.<\/p>\n<p>After his rookie year, Jones regressed and eventually lost his starting job. He was traded to his hometown <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/jaguars\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jacksonville Jaguars<\/a> in March 2024. Jones started seven games for the Jaguars, filling in for Trevor Lawrence. He threw for 1,672 yards and eight touchdowns.<\/p>\n<p>The 49ers then <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/03\/12\/mac-jones-signs-contract-49ers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">signed<\/a> Jones in 2025. He made eight starts this season, replacing injured starter Brock Purdy. Jones finished with 2,151 passing yards, 13 touchdowns, and six interceptions.<\/p>\n<p>Why the Jets Should Trade for Him<\/p>\n<p>The Jets failed to land the top pick in the 2026 draft. That means they won\u2019t be able to select Indiana quarterback <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/12\/27\/the-jets-clear-a-path-to-fernando-mendoza\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Fernando Mendoza<\/a>. The Heisman Trophy winner is expected to become a superstar. The Las Vegas Raiders, who own the first overall pick, will more than likely draft Mendoza unless something really crazy happens.<\/p>\n<p>Holding the second overall pick, the Jets could take Oregon quarterback <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/01\/10\/yes-the-jets-are-a-better-qb-destination-than-you-think\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dante Moore<\/a> (if he declares). While Moore has the potential to be a star, it doesn\u2019t appear that he\u2019s ready for the NFL just yet. With that said, the team should trade back for more picks.<\/p>\n<p>The Jets need to acquire Mac Jones instead. He\u2019d be a major upgrade over the team\u2019s trio of quarterbacks this season (<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/01\/05\/jets-expected-to-cut-40-million-bust-justin-fields-3-suitors-for-2026-season\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Justin Fields<\/a>, Tyrod Taylor, and Brady Cook).<\/p>\n<p>Jones would also be a cheap pickup, as he has a salary cap hit of just under $4 million. He could serve as an excellent bridge quarterback if the Jets decide to draft a first-round signal-caller in 2027 instead of this year.<\/p>\n<p>Mac Jones revived his career in San Francisco, and it seems like he\u2019s ready to be a full-time starter again. It\u2019s unclear what the Jets would have to trade for him. But they should definitely consider him.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Main Image: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The San Francisco 49ers might trade quarterback Mac Jones this offseason. If so, the New York Jets make&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":669385,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[6446,3619,7,226,5215,1917,255,2323,2321,2097,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-669384","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-jets","8":"tag-dante-moore","9":"tag-fernando-mendoza","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-jets","12":"tag-mac-jones","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-jets","15":"tag-new-york-jets-news","16":"tag-newyork","17":"tag-newyorkjets","18":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115877806437065972","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=669384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/669385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=669384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=669384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=669384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}