When the San Francisco 49ers originally signed quarterback Mac Jones to a two-year free-argent deal earlier this offseason, they hadn't yet extended their franchise signal-caller, Brock Purdy, to what would become a lucrative five-year, $265 million deal.
Purdy's extension ultimately became reality, but the Niners didn't know that at the time they signed Jones, suggesting he could have been a contingency plan if talks between Purdy and the front office broke down.
Now, Jones is clearly cemented as the No. 2 behind Purdy and the primary go-to, should San Francisco's franchise quarterback suffer any sort of setback this upcoming season. And the former first-round pick of the 2021 NFL Draft should clearly see this as an opportunity to salvage what has otherwise been a disappointing career to date.
The 49ers, though, may end up having other plans.
49ers may use Mac Jones as trade bait
With Purdy cemented in for the long haul, Jones potentially emerges as a trade chip, an asset the Niners have this year (and potentially next) who could possibly be dealt to another team in desperate need for a quarterback.
We've seen this sort of thing before.
Back in 2016, then-Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater suffered a horrible knee injury during practice right before the regular season, prompting Minnesota to engineer a last-minute trade with the Philadelphia Eagles for one of their excess quarterbacks, Sam Bradford.
With the offseason free-agent quarterback list largely dried up by now, any injury to a team's would-be starter could prompt an emergency trade.
San Francisco just so happens to have a Round 1 starting-caliber quarterback potentially available.
From a financial perspective, trading Jones would cost the 49ers $448,000 in dead money this year and next, according to Over the Cap, but would generate over $2.1 million in cap savings in 2025 alone.
Of course, this would prompt the 49ers to scramble for a primary backup, which would likely including naming second-year pro Tanner Mordecai to the active roster after he spent his rookie season on the practice squad. Yet, after Mordecai had some impressive efforts during his inaugural preseason, it might not be the worst move.
The Niners' 2025 rookie quarterback addition, Kurtis Rourke, is recovering from a collegiate ACL tear and likely spends the year on the non-football injury list.
Either way, should the need arise, Jones might serve San Francisco in a very different way than originally anticipated. Instead of being a primary backup to Purdy, Jones possibly winds up being pure trade bait if another team winds up finding itself in desperate need of a quarterback at some point between now and the trade deadline.