By Wes Long | Published | No Comments
It’s safe to say that the Mac Jones era is coming to an end in New England. Jones has been benched the last two games for backup quarterback Bailey Zappe, and after Zappe’s nice performance this past Thursday night against the Steelers, there is a strong possibility that Jones may not play another snap for the Patriots this season. Jones future in New England, long term, is also unclear.
Jones would be entering the final year of his rookie contract next season, unless the Patriots were to pick up his fifth year option. Assuming that the Patriots do not pick up Jones’ fifth year option, Jones would be guaranteed to make just over $2.7 million next season. Jones financial impact to the Patriots is minor, and his cap hit next season would be just under $5 million. If the Pats trade or release Jones before June 1st next season they would save just under $4.9 million is dead cap space rolling over into the new financial year. If the Pats trade or release Jones after June 1st next season, they would be responsible for the $4.9 million in dead cap space.
It’s unlikely that the Patriots would start Jones next season, since he has already lost his job to his former backup Zappe this season. Jones only path in New England next season would be as a bridge quarterback, to whomever the Pats were to draft next April. Presumably they would draft Jones/Zappe replacement in the 2024 NFL Draft. It’s more likely that the Patriots would keep Zappe on as a backup, to whomever the new starting quarterback will be in New England next season.
There is a slim chance that Zappe could be traded during the off-season, instead of Jones. Zappe could have a strong finish to this season, over the remanning four games, and it’s possible that the Patriots could elect to keep Jones, absorb his small cap hit, and trade Zappe for more draft capital.
The question really becomes which quarterback would get the Patriots a better trade deal. Still, the more likely scenario is that Pats would keep Zappe, for at least one more season and release/trade Jones. If the Pats do not pick up Jones fifth year option, they would have to either sign Jones to a new contract, before the start of the 2025 season, franchise tag Jones before the tag deadline in 2025, or Jones would become a restricted free agent for the 2025 season.
Assuming that the Patriots try to trade Jones, lets take a look at some possible landing spots for the quarterback next season.
If the Falcons fail to make the playoff this season, they will largely look at their current quarterback room as a big reason as to why. The Falcons starting quarterback, Desmond Ridder, is young and could possibly still develop into a fine quarterback, but he is not there yet. The Falcons current backup quarterback, Taylor Heinicke, has bounced around league the last several seasons, but he has not been able to change the Falcons prospects much either.
The Falcons could be a landing spot for Jones, mostly because head coach Arthur Smith has a track record for turning around broken quarterbacks that other teams have given up on. Smith was the offensive coordinator in Tennessee who helped bring out the best in Ryan Tannehill, after his tumultuous exit from the Dolphins. Another reclamation project could be in order in Atlanta. Regardless of whether Atlanta would be interested in Jones, the Falcons will need to add a quarterback this offseason, even if they do decide to give Ridder another season to prove himself. It’s possible that Atlanta could bring in Jones and have essentially an open competition at training camp. It could be a win/win for the Falcons. Either Jones pushes Ridder during camp and brings out the best in him or vice versa. If the Falcons are able to fix Jones mechanics and fix his confidence in the process, they would find themselves with a quarterback that, at least, has playoff experience and has shown, with some decent weapons, a good offensive line, and nice running game, he can manage a game effectively enough to get a team to the playoffs.
The Steelers are another team that could miss the playoffs this season, and be left wondering what might have been if they would have had a more polished quarterback. Look you can argue all day long which quarterback has more upside, Jones or Kenny Pickett. Honesty neither quarterbacks ceiling is high enough to get the Steelers to a Super Bowl. But the Steelers have to be concerned that Pickett is just never going to be that guy that can lead them to the playoffs on any kind of consistent basis. Jones at least has shown that he can effectively manage a good collection of talent around him and get a team to the playoffs, as Jones did during his rookie season. Jones would have much better weapons in Pittsburgh, and who knows maybe George Pickens could help save Mac. Pickens certainly seems to be unhappy with the current quarterback room in the Steel City.
When Jones has not been asked to do too much he has shown the ability to make enough plays to be a successful starting quarterback in the NFL. The Steelers could certainly target another pass catcher in next year’s draft and in doing so could help, tremendously, whomever their starting quarterback is next season.
The Browns investment in quarterback Deshaun Watson has, so far, not returned many good dividends. The Browns, infamously, agreed to pay Watson $232 million over five years, all of it guaranteed, because they hoped that Watson would be the last piece to the puzzle of getting them not just back to the playoffs, but deep into them. But at the end of his second year of a five year deal, Watson will have played in just 12 games – out of a possible 34 games. Watson missed the first 11 games of last season, due to a league imposed suspension, and he will miss another 11 games this season – to a variety of different injuries. Even when Watson has been healthy or available to play, he has come no where close to giving the Browns the value they were looking for when they struck this trade deal with Houston.
The Browns are another team that will face many uncomfortable questions as to what they do with their current quarterback room if they fail to make the playoffs. It’s possible that had the Browns known that Watson would be lost for the season by mid November, they may have made a deal with the Patriots for Jones’ services before the trade deadline at the end of October.
In a perfect world the Browns would be patient and wait another season and hope that Watson eventually circles back to the player that he was in Houston. In reality though, the Browns will need to make a decision this offseason. With Watson’s injuries throughout his career beginning to take on more of a focus, as it pertains to his future potential upside, do they want to bring in a quarterback like Jones to serve as a high end backup. It’s unlikely that Jones would have a shot at starting in Cleveland next season, but backing up Watson could actually serve Jones quite well. It would give him time to get his mechanics sound and get some much needed coaching to help get him back to where he was early in his career. Should the worst happen again to Watson next season, at least the Browns would know that they have a backup on their roster that could get them to the playoffs.
This landing spot made more sense when Josh McDaniels was still the head coach. Jones best season came when McDaniels was his offensive coordinator during his rookie season of 2021. Still though, the Raiders could be interested in Jones services. The Raiders fears that opening week starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo would get hurt this season ultimately came to fruition. It’s clear that Garoppolo is not long for Vegas and that leaves the Raiders asking themselves what do they do with rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell going into next season. O’Connell has probably done enough in a small sample size this season to earn a shot at at least competing for the starting job next year, but it’s clear that the Raiders will be looking at bringing in some help at that position.
The Raiders could add a quarterback in the draft, but I would not expect them to be picking a QB in the first or even second round, as they need more help along the offensive and defensive lines. Jones would be a cheap bridge style QB for the Raiders, if they wish to wait another draft to go after a quarterback. At the very least, Jones has experience and has been through enough adversity so far in his career, that if there is anything left from Jones, he could tap that potential with a decent roster of playmakers out in the dessert. It’s not an ideal landing spot for Jones and probably not the Raiders first choice either, but Jones does represent good value here, even if he is just used for one season as a bridge QB.
The Vikings have been here before, with a starting quarterback on the final year of his contract and likely to become a free agent at the end of the season. The wrinkle here is what the Vikings ultimately decide to do with Kirk Cousins. They could certainly still sign Cousins to a long term deal in the offseason or at least make him a qualifying offer to protect themselves, draft capital wise, should he leave and go else where. But Cousins injury complicates things a bit for the the Vikings. That’s because Cousins was having a career year before his injury and the Vikings were turning their season around before Cousins tore his ACL. If Cousins doesn’t get hurt, the Vikings would have been favorites to reach the playoffs as at least a wild card team.
Given that Cousins can still play at an above average level in the NFL, and there is not going to be nearly as many attractive quarterbacks hitting free agency this upcoming offseason, the Vikings have a real difficult decision to make here. They will either have to resign Cousins, which could mean that they get into a bidding war with another team, trade for a starting quarterback or draft one.
Problem for the Vikings is that, if they had eyes on a generational quarterback prospect in next years draft like, Caleb Williams or Drake Make, they will have to almost certainly trade up to get into that position and good luck with that. That leaves, at least in my eyes, the Vikings taking a quarterback possibly in the second round or later. If they go that route they will need a bridge quarterback to get through at least half the season before they turn the keys over to whichever QB they draft. That leaves the Vikings looking at free agency or a viable trade. Quarterbacks, such as, Baker Mayfield, Gardner Minshew, Tyrod Taylor, Jamies Winston and their current starter Joshua Dobbs are all free agent options for the Vikings. Then there is Mac Jones. This would be the longest of long shots for Mac, but stranger things have happened. And if the free agency market dries up quickly for the Vikings, at least Jones gives them an option as a bridge quarterback to which ever quarterback they target in the draft.
