{"id":254867,"date":"2025-11-16T09:00:58","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T14:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=254867"},"modified":"2025-11-15T20:01:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T01:01:09","slug":"former-patriots-starter-mac-jones-named-trade-candidate-after-2025-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/11\/16\/former-patriots-starter-mac-jones-named-trade-candidate-after-2025-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Patriots Starter Named Trade Candidate After 2025 Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

With quarterback Brock Purdy taking back his starting duties, this means the San Francisco 49ers have trade candidate, Mac Jones, to deal with once the 2025 season concludes. According to a few reports<\/a>, Jones continues to be a name in trade rumors since he’s shown that he is capable of being a starter for a new team. It might be due to good coaching, thanks to Kyle Shanahan, but Jones had himself a temporary resurgent season this year, recording 2,151 passing yards for 13 touchdowns. It’s not the most explosive numbers compared to Rams veteran Matthew Stafford,<\/a> but it shows that Jones should garner interest from several teams this upcoming offseason.<\/p>\n

Former Patriots Starter Mac Jones Named Trade Candidate After 2025 Season<\/h2>\n

The 49ers would prefer to keep Jones a part of the unit as their backup, but they can’t brush off the idea of what they can do this offseason as far as draft capital. However, it’s understandable that the 49ers wouldn’t be open to trading Jones since Purdy hasn’t been able to stay healthy in recent memory. This is something that Jones took advantage of, but the 49ers could get something decent out of him for a draft pick that can help Purdy. With the 49ers already extending Purdy to a long-term blockbuster deal, Jones is the latest victim, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if these teams pursue him in the offseason.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1. Carolina Panthers<\/h3>\n

While most of the credit can go towards Rico Dowdle<\/a> and the ground game for the Panthers’ success, the team must bring some real competition for starter Bryce Young. He finally found some life by defeating Dallas and Green Bay in one season while going 5-5. However, the defense did their job as well, but it’s never something that can always make up for the offense that is still facing inconsistencies. Jones is ready for a new opportunity, and it wouldn’t be surprising if head coach Dave Canales takes a look at him during the offseason.<\/p>\n

Current veteran backup Andy Dalton is too old and will likely retire after his contract is up. Jones seems to be the right fit for this offense, especially with rising rookie wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Run,
Nov 9, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers running back Rico Dowdle (5) celebrates with quarterback Bryce Young (9) after scoring a touchdown in the first quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

2. New Orleans Saints<\/h3>\n

The 1-8 New Orleans Saints are still looking for their franchise quarterback, led by head coach Kellen Moore. He should be aggressive in this upcoming draft or free agency to find one. Unfortunately, Spencer Rattler and Tyler Shough haven’t been able to establish themselves as a long-term adequate answer. Jones could be the most reliable option, especially for a rebuilding team that already acquired wide receivers DeVaughn Vele<\/a> and Trey Palmer.<\/p>\n

\"Alvin
Sep 14, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler (2) hands off to running back Alvin Kamara (41) against the San Francisco 49ers during the second half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

3. Pittsburgh Steelers<\/h3>\n

This trade will be all dependent on whether or not veteran Aaron Rodgers will retire after the 2025 campaign<\/a>. Either way, the Steelers need a long-term answer at quarterback. Pittsburgh embraced an older roster this past offseason, but it’s time for head coach Mike Tomlin to rebuild. Jones joining Tomlin in Pittsburgh while drafting a quarterback might give them some proper competition, unlike between Russell Wilson and Justin Fields a season ago.<\/p>\n

\"Three
Nov 9, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) walk off the field after the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The San Francisco 49ers may receive trade interest for one intriguing candidate after the 2025 regular season. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4795,"featured_media":254869,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,30,5,28,6431,9,31],"tags":[275,9212,9487,7739,7261,7394,7752,7661,7366,7659,7325,8553],"class_list":["post-254867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-panthers","category-patriots","category-saints","category-nfl-teams","category-steelers","category-49ers","tag-aaron-rodgers","tag-brock-purdy","tag-bryce-young","tag-carolina-panthers-news","tag-mac-jones","tag-new-england-patriots-news","tag-new-orleans-saints-news","tag-panthers-featured","tag-pittsburgh-steelers-news","tag-saints-featured","tag-san-francisco-49ers-news","tag-spencer-rattler"],"modified_by":"Anthony Palacios","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4795"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254867"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":254907,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254867\/revisions\/254907"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}