On Sunday afternoon, the San Francisco 49ers will hit their home field to take on the Arizona Cardinals in an early season divisional matchup in the NFC West. It will be the second straight start at quarterback for Mac Jones, who took over the job last week in place of the injured Brock Purdy, dealing with a turf toe.
Jones played relatively well in that contest, and recently, NFL insider Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network spoke on how another good start from him on Sunday could open up some interesting conversations down the line.
“Another quality start for Jones could also put him in the conversation to be a starter next season — if the 49ers (who have him under contract through 2026) trade him to an interested team,” reported Rapoport on NFL.com.
Rapoport also noted that “In Jones' contract, $100,000 per game is available, provided he plays 25% of snaps and the team wins. Jones, however, needs a minimum of four starts to qualify.”
The Cardinals' defense hasn't exactly been lighting the world on fire to start this year, so it's certainly on the table that Jones could put together another quality start on Sunday and generate some interest from teams unsatisfied with their current quarterback situation.
Can the 49ers sustain this?
The San Francisco 49ers currently sit at 2-0 on the young season, as do the Cardinals, and will look to make it 3-0 on Sunday afternoon.
After paying Brock Purdy a boatload of money to remain their quarterback this past offseason, fans of the team certainly didn't want to see him go down with an injury this early in the campaign, although injuries have become a rather alarming trend throughout Purdy's career.
The 49ers coincidentally thought about drafting Jones back in the 2020 NFL Draft but passed on him, and now he has a chance to prove to the team why they made the wrong decision, as well as potentially open up other doors for himself around the league down the line.
In any case, the 49ers and Cardinals are slated to kick things off at 4:25 PM ET on Sunday afternoon from the Bay Area.
