It always felt like if the San Francisco 49ers were going to move on from Mac Jones, it would take a massive trade haul to get the deal done.
Not that Jones is one of the best quarterbacks in the world by any measure, but there’s reason to believe he can come into a team dealing with a quarterback issue and help them succeed.
One of the more obvious teams in the league that could have used a player like Jones was the Baltimore Ravens, though it’s now been reported that Baltimore is making a trade for Jacoby Brissett with the Arizona Cardinals.
Before this trade, one CBS writer floated the idea that the Ravens could be interested in trading for Jones, and that, for that to happen, they’d have to blow away the 49ers in a potential trade.
“It doesn’t seem particularly realistic. Kyle Shanahan has said many times he wants to keep Jones, and the 49ers, like the Bears, have legitimate Super Bowl aspirations right here, right now. If the 49ers needed a spot start — or even just a few series — from Jones to win a game, it would be worth it. Unlike the Bears, though, the 49ers don’t have a second legit backup. Kurtis Rourke has never played an NFL snap.
“The Ravens would likely need to blow away the 49ers to have any shot at Jones, and that simply hasn’t been Baltimore GM Eric DeCosta’s M.O. Instead, Bagent and Brissett seem like top options, with a flyer on a younger, potentially intriguing player also a legitimate route for the Ravens to take,” CBS’ Zachary Pereles wrote.
While this doesn’t guarantee the 49ers won’t move on from Jones, it does raise the question of which other team in the league would be interested in taking a decent-sized haul to save their season.
With Baltimore now likely out of the mix, that’s one other team the 49ers can’t use as leverage. The 49ers still have about a week before they need to decide on Jones, though it seems obvious now that he isn’t going to get traded, barring something drastic happening.
