The San Francisco 49ers exceeded expectations during the 2025 season. The 49ers made some noise during the playoffs despite being ravaged by injuries. Now the team could be tempted to trade away one player who was crucial to that magical season.
San Francisco has been steadfast that they do not want to trade QB Mac Jones this offseason.
However, the Athletic's Matt Barrows made a strong argument for why the 49ers may end up trading Jones after all. Barrows made a multi-pronged argument for why Jones could end up on the move.
“Circumstances are aligning to create an offer that might be hard to refuse,” Barrows wrote. “The first is that Jones didn’t just look like a starter in 2025 but someone who could lead an imperfect team, which is what any potential suitor would be.”
He cited San Francisco's 26-23 overtime victory over Los Angeles on Thursday Night Football as one game that proved Jones could succeed on an imperfect team.
Plus NFL fans everywhere just watched Seattle win the Super Bowl with reclamation project Sam Darnold at the helm.
It is only natural that other NFL teams will be looking to copy Seattle's formula. The most important ingredient is finding a reclamation project of their own. Of all the available options this offseason, Jones is the most likely to take Darnold's path to success.
Barrows also cited the relatively weak 2026 quarterback class, and the prevalence of Kyle Shanahan disciplines in head coaching jobs around the league, as primary reasons why a Jones trade could actually happen.
Another factor that could lead to Jones being traded is his cheap contract.
Jones signed a two-year contract worth $7 million during free agency last spring. That means Jones is only under contract for one more season with a measly $3 million cap hit.
If the 49ers do end up trading Jones, it will likely be cause they receive an offer that is too good to pass up.
Fans should expect any potential trade to happen after the new league year begins in March.
