The San Francisco 49ers could now trade their backup quarterback Mac Jones before the November 3 deadline, despite insisting throughout the offseason that he will be staying with the organization.
Jones, 27, deputized for injured starter Brock Purdy for eight games last season and the team went 5-3 in that time. He is a hugely popular figure in the Niners locker room but is entering the second season of his two-year contract with the team.
After the 49ers were knocked out of the postseason by the eventual Super Bowl winners Seattle Seahawks, Jones and the team sat down for talks about what the future holds amid anticpated interest in a trade from teams who needed a starter.
They told him that a trade before April’s draft was possible for a big asking price and if it wasn’t met, Jones would stay. While that offer never materialized, it has now been claimed that the emergence of another quarterback has made San Francisco think again.
The team drafted Kurtis Rourke in the seventh round of 2025 but he missed all of his rookie season with a torn ACL sustained in his final college season with the Indiana Hoosiers.
And the man who was succeeded by Fernando Mendoza at college level has been impressing his coaches so much in the early days of practice that they are thinking again about dealing Jones, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The San Francisco 49ers could now be open to trading quarterback Mac Jones
Jones covered for Brock Purdy across eight games last year and impressed with a 5-3 record
The team wants to see more of Rourke in practice and he might well end up taking more snaps than a typical third-choice quarterback might expect.
Jones was picked in the first round of the 2021 draft by the New England Patriots but his career had drifted before his time in San Francisco.
History suggests that the 49ers will need a backup to Purdy that they can trust, though.
He had turf toe when Jones deputized in his place in 2025 and in 2023, he had surgery on a partial UCL tear after playing through the pain barrier.
The 49ers will compete in a packed NFC West this year, too. As well as having the Super Bowl champions as divisional rivals, they are also up against the Los Angeles Rams – favorite to lift the Lombardi trophy this year with MVP Matthew Stafford at quarterback as well as recently trading for Myles Garrett.
Purdy’s team start the season against the Rams in Melbourne, Australia on September 10. It very much remains to be seen if it is Jones or Rourke backing him up.
