{"id":792427,"date":"2026-03-04T23:15:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T23:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/792427\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T23:15:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T23:15:15","slug":"49ers-have-perfect-opportunity-for-mac-jones-trade-that-makes-sense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/792427\/","title":{"rendered":"49ers have perfect opportunity for Mac Jones trade that makes sense"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 49ers know how valuable Mac Jones was last season, and all the reports to this point have insisted they do not intend to trade their backup quarterback<\/a>. San Francisco\u2019s reluctance to part with a player whom they smartly signed to a two-year contract last offseason is understandable, but the reality is that, save for a few untouchable members of the roster, every 49er can be had for the right price.<\/p>\n

And, in the case of Jones, there is an opportunity emerging for the 49ers to get what they may deem a fair deal for their No. 2 signal-caller and improve the roster at the same time.<\/p>\n

San Francisco would benefit significantly from additional depth at edge rusher after struggling for pass rush in Nick Bosa\u2019s absence last season, and a talented veteran edge is now seemingly available after it was reported that the Minnesota Vikings are open to trading Jonathan Greenard<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Minnesota is dealing with salary cap issues and Greenard carries cap hits of $22.3 million and $19 million over the next two seasons. Yet none of that money is fully guaranteed, making him a more appealing potential acquisition for edge-needy teams.<\/p>\n

Greenard shone for the Vikings in 2024, recording 12 sacks, 11.5 stuffs, and four forced fumbles. He totaled 84 pressures, per PFF, with a pass-rush win rate of 15.2 percent. He was subsequently named to the Pro Bowl.<\/p>\n

He missed five games last season due to injury and recorded only three sacks. However, Greenard still managed to tally 47 pressures and had a pass rush win rate of 16.6%, with both those numbers superior to Bryce Huff (45 pressures, 14.9% win rate), whom the Niners acquired in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles last offseason.<\/p>\n

The acquisition of Greenard would give the 49ers\u2019 edge depth a much healthier look, and give them the flexibility to potentially move on from Huff and save just under $5.4 million against the cap for a player who will be a free agent in 2027.<\/p>\n

Given the Vikings\u2019 problems at quarterback, the stars could align for such a deal to happen, as Minnesota stands out as an ideal trade destination for Jones.<\/p>\n

The knock on Jones\u2019 excellent quarterback performances last season in relief of Brock Purdy is that they came while he had the insulation of the Kyle Shanahan offense. Few play-callers can elevate a quarterback like Shanahan, but Vikings head coach Kevin O\u2019Connell has an excellent track record of doing so with Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connell has not been successful with J.J. McCarthy, whose disastrous first season as a starter has led to suggestions that the Vikings could be in the mix for a quarterback. Jones could be acquired by Minnesota to have a competition with McCarthy, and most would expect the former Alabama star to win it.<\/p>\n

As such, the Vikings represent a tantalising landing spot for Jones, who would obviously be desperate for another shot to be a starter.<\/p>\n

While a straight swap between Jones and Greenard might not represent fair value, the addition of draft picks into the deal likely would make it more amenable to the 49ers, with a day-two pick indicated to be the level of compensation San Francisco would desire. Having a player involved in the deal might lower the asking price, and a hypothetical scenario in which the 49ers send Jones to Minnesota in exchange for Greenard and the Vikings\u2019 2026 fourth-round pick would represent excellent business for John Lynch.<\/p>\n

Of course, the 49ers would need to have a plan to replace a player who proved himself to be a premier backup quarterback last season, yet the prospect of improving a problem area and gaining extra draft capital could be too good for them to pass up.<\/p>\n

San Francisco will be more than happy to hang on to Jones if no suitors come calling, but the opportunity to use him as a makeweight to bolster their pass rush is one they should at least explore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 49ers know how valuable Mac Jones was last season, and all the reports to this point have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":792428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[7,52067,1137],"class_list":{"0":"post-792427","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-san-francisco-49ers-roster","10":"tag-san-francisco-49ers-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116173453644888293","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792427","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=792427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/792428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=792427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=792427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=792427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}