{"id":293436,"date":"2026-07-23T13:30:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T17:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=293436"},"modified":"2026-07-22T16:57:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T20:57:23","slug":"mac-jones-landing-spots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/07\/23\/mac-jones-landing-spots\/","title":{"rendered":"Mac Jones Landing Spots: 5 Best Fits for Former Top Pick"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the latest news, this article will examine the best Mac Jones landing spots as the veteran prefers to be a starter someday. According to Bleacher Report, Jones is penned as the top QB trade candidate among four that teams must pursue before Week 1. Originally selected in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, the former Alabama product made his mark last season, appearing in eight matchups to fill in for Brock Purdy<\/a>. Unfortunately, Jones is on the back burner once again as Purdy is fully healthy and is expected to take starting reps this upcoming training camp.<\/p>\n

After recording a career-high 69.6 percent of his passes and posting the best passer rating of his career at 97.4, the former New England Patriot finally broke his silence. He remains one of the best pocket-passers in the league and could be in line for a huge payday if he walks in free agency next year. However, Jones could be too old, and it might be time to let him go, suggested by the man himself<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“I’m still 27. I have some good scars and bad scars, but I know I can play. But I do want to get that chance again, to run a team and be the guy. It’s hard when it’s Brock’s team\u2014or any backup\u2014I’m sure they deal with that. But if you can get that chance again, I feel like I can really elevate people around me,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Mac
Main Photo: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mac Jones Landing Spots: 3 Best Fits for Former Top Pick<\/h2>\n

San Francisco Holding Him Hostage?<\/h3>\n

The last thing the 49ers want to do is hold him if he doesn’t want to remain a backup anymore. However, they’d rather trade him so they get something in return. Jones will probably become an All-Pro in his next team as a starter, and with that, expect the 49ers’ asking price to be high. San Francisco won’t let him off too easily, but that could change if he requests a trade.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the 49ers do have a promising former 2025 draft selection, Kurtis Rourke, who’s considered a sleeper<\/a> this offseason. With this, let’s explore the final top three teams that might eye the veteran.<\/p>\n

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3. Carolina Panthers<\/h3>\n

The Carolina Panthers have picked up the fifth-year option for QB Bryce Young<\/a>, but are non-committal to his long-term future. After signing Kenny Pickett this offseason, they have backup help if Young has a disastrous 2026 campaign, but don’t be surprised if they call up Jones. This offense is too hot, especially with them locking down Jalen Coker to a new deal and drafting Chris Brazzell<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tetairoa McMillan is set for a breakout year, while RB Chuba Hubbard is still a reliable downhill runner despite Rico Dowdle leaving. The 49ers backup has the right pieces in Carolina to take them to an NFC Championship Game.<\/p>\n

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2. Indianapolis Colts<\/h3>\n

Here’s a landing spot that could pay off dividends for Jones. While they’ve re-signed Daniel Jones to a new two-year deal, there’s no guarantee he’ll be mobile anymore after recently sustaining a gruesome injury last season. Anthony Richardson<\/a> is likely to be cut, so expect the Colts to strongly push for the 49ers QB if things falter this upcoming campaign.<\/p>\n

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1. Atlanta Falcons<\/h3>\n

The Falcons have truly one of the worst QB rooms in the league despite adding Tua Tagovailoa<\/a>. What’s funny is that they had veteran Kirk Cousins right in front of them, who returned last season stepping in for Michael Penix Jr.<\/a> while injured. He proved he’s still a proven starter, so why didn’t Atlanta keep him? Jones could finally seal the deal in Atlanta as the final keystone player amongst RB Bijan Robinson and WR Drake London.<\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this article, it will examine the top Mac Jones landing spots as a trade could be looming before Week 1 of the 2026 regular season. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4795,"featured_media":293439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":true,"sfio_embed_code":"<\/smartframe-embed>","_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":[36,27,30,12,6431,31],"tags":[7727,9212,9487,7739,4688,7800,32193,7261,32243,246,5812,34873,7661,7325],"class_list":["post-293436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-falcons","category-panthers","category-colts","category-nfl-teams","category-49ers","tag-atlanta-falcons-news","tag-brock-purdy","tag-bryce-young","tag-carolina-panthers-news","tag-daniel-jones","tag-indianapolis-colts-news","tag-lastest-nfl-news","tag-mac-jones","tag-michael-penix-jr","tag-nfl-news","tag-nfl-rumors","tag-nfl-trade-rumors","tag-panthers-featured","tag-san-francisco-49ers-news"],"modified_by":"Anthony Palacios","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293436","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=293436"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293436\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":293447,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293436\/revisions\/293447"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}