The New England Patriots have a lot of work to do this offseason, and they have already made a pair of big moves by replacing longtime head coach Bill Belichick with Jerod Mayo, and promoting DeMarcus Covington to become their new defensive coordinator. Even with those two moves being made, there's still so much the Patriots have to do this offseason.
Mayo is still building out his coaching staff, but beyond that, he inherits a roster that is a complete wasteland. Granted, New England has the assets to bring in some serious talent over the next few months, but the initial crop of players the Patriots have isn't all that great. One of the biggest questions on the roster comes with former first-round pick Mac Jones, who was supposed to be the Pats quarterback of the future.
Jones underwent a nightmarish 2023 campaign, and reports have surfaced suggesting that his relationship with Belichick was not good. The arrival of Mayo hasn't exactly wiped Jones' slate clean, but it could provide him an opportunity to bounce back in 2024 if he somehow finds himself under center. But after last season, is that something that Mayo would even consider doing?
What should Jerod Mayo do with Mac Jones?
By now, we all know Jones' story with the Patriots. After finding his way to the Pro Bowl in his rookie campaign, Jones has regressed mightily over the past two seasons, and ended up getting himself benched in favor of Bailey Zappe for the final six games of the season. With New England holding the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, it seems extremely likely they will be selecting Jones' replacement with that pick.
On the surface, this seems like an easy decision for Jerod Mayo. Jones was horrific in 2023 (224/345, 2120 YDS, 10 TD, 12 INT) and seems to be truly broken, thanks to his struggles and the awful situation he has found himself in with New England. Jones received little to no help from Belichick, but the Patriots can't really afford to keep on giving him opportunities to figure it out.
Keeping Jones on board and trying to build the roster around him again is the wrong move, and one that Mayo surely will not make. Drafting a quarterback (likely either LSU's Jayden Daniels or North Carolina's Drake Maye) is a must with the third pick of the draft. But in the same line of thought, that doesn't mean that the Patriots should immediately cut ties with Jones.
Jones is obviously a mess currently, but he proved during his rookie campaign that he can be a successful quarterback in the right system. He needs help around him, but he was drafted with the 15th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft for a reason. Even after his 2023 campaign, Jones still holds some value based on those things alone.
Just because Jones is broken now doesn't mean he can't figure things out. We've seen Geno Smith emerge from out of nowhere to become the Seattle Seahawks quarterback, and Baker Mayfield just led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the Divisional round of the playoffs a year after being cast aside by the Carolina Panthers. Jones' career is far from over.
The problem is that, given their current situation, the Patriots don't really have time to wait around and see if Jones can figure things out. They need a guy who is clearly going to be their quarterback of the future, and right now, Jones is not that guy. There are other teams across the league that could be willing to take a flier on him, though, and try to build him back up behind the scenes, which gives him at least some value, however minimal that may be.
If the Patriots get a solid trade offer for Jones (realistically, a Day 3 draft pick could probably get the job done), they should pull the trigger on a deal. They also could hold onto Jones for the time being and see what happens, as he only has a cap hit of $4.95 million next season. His fifth-year option is not going to get exercised, but there's no sense in cutting him, as another team will quickly snag him up, and they don't save any money by releasing him.
There's a very good chance that Mac Jones has played his final snap for the Patriots already, but it's fair to wonder whether Jerod Mayo will give him a chance to prove himself under his new regime. That likely won't result in extensive playing time on the field, but rather on the practice field. If Jones can prove his worth, maybe the front office would have an incentive to keep him around next offseason when his contract expires.
Should the Patriots get any sort of trade offer for Jones, they should probably jump on it. But it's also not the end of the world if he sticks around in a non-starting capacity for the upcoming season. It may be wise for Mayo to not give up on the young quarterback like Belichick seemingly did, and how he handles the struggling quarterback is going to be one of the more important decisions he makes early on in his tenure with the team.
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