NFL
Exclusive: 49ers Set to Hold on Tight to Backup QB Mac Jones
The 49ers are looking to retain back-up quarterback Mac Jones despite his potential as a starter and interest from other teams. With a limited quarterback market, San Francisco believes they can still reach the postseason with Jones if needed, but rival executives expect the 49ers to put up a fight to keep him. Jones' value lies in his potential to help a Super Bowl contender rather than a rebuilding team, making it necessary for interested teams to offer a significant trade package.
San Francisco 49ers v New Orleans Saints by Sean Gardner | Getty Images
Although the 49ers already have $60M starting quarterback Brock Purdy and pressing roster needs at other positions, league sources say they are still prioritizing retaining backup quarterback Mac Jones.
Jones excelled filling in for Purdy, who missed chunks of the 2025 NFL season due to injury; those performances also raised his profile and will draw interest from other teams as well, with many teams needing a new passer.
However, executives from several teams looking at quarterbacks expect the 49ers to do all within reason to keep Jones as well, and believe the price it would require to obtain him in trade will be more than most teams would be willing to part with.
Jones is one of the more interesting options in a very limited quarterback market (trade and free agency), but also comes with questions.
He crashed out as a first-round pick in New England, with youngster Drake Maye, another first-round pick, quickly taking that franchise back to the Super Bowl.
He lacks ideal athleticism in a starting quarterback and has been very turnover prone at times, too. However, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan has helped alter the course of several back-up-turned-starting quarterbacks in the recent past (Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield among them) and that will have rival executives thinking long and hard about acquiring Jones to be their top quarterback in 2026.
Is He A Back Up Or A Starter?
Jones, 27, was just on the open market, of course, and crated little interest.
San Francisco signed him to be a back-up for two years, for a maximum of $8.4M, which is incredibly cheap for any team that believed he could start a full season for them. That will lead to inquiries, for sure, but the 49ers also believe they could still reach the postseason with Jones having to start the bulk of the season should Purdy suffer a significant injury.
“It’s a tough market to read this early in the process,” said one high-ranking official who is seeking a new quarterback.
"I know that Kyle doesn’t want to lose him. I think they’ll put up a pretty good fight. You’re going to have to knock their socks off.”
Another executive said: “You’d better be prepared to trade for a starter, and a top 20 starter, because that’s what Kyle is going to say he is. They’re going to hold out for a real (draft) pick.”
In the end, Jones just might be more valuable to a 49ers team in Super-Bowl or bust mode than he would be for a rebuilding team that knows it just simply sign Jones as an unrestricted free agent in 2027 rather than part with a high pick and have to give him a new contract in 2026.
La Canfora has covered over 20 Super Bowls and League Meetings and NFL drafts, building a wide network of sources throughout all aspects of the game. He was an award winning print journalist as well, working at The Detroit Free Press and The Baltimore Sun prior to his first stint at The Washington Post. He has covered sporting events around the world, including two Winter Olympics and all of the 2006 World Cup. He attended his first NFL game in 1978, and would soon kindle what has become a lifelong love and appreciation of the sport. La Canfora is also a professional handicapper, specializing in the NFL, creating a daily sports wagering game show - "Wanna Bet?" He also hosts nationally broadcast NFL radio shows in the US, as well as a daily sports radio show in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland.