The Jacksonville Jaguars have been looking to get some improvement on their roster and the backup quarterback position seemed to be one area of need for the franchise. On Sunday morning, the team traded a sixth-round pick to the New England Patriots for quarterback Mac Jones. While the draft capital to add Jones to the team was not much, they still technically may have overpaid.
The reason for saying this is CBS NFL Insider Jonathan Jones is reporting that the Jacksonville Jaguars were the only franchise to even offer a trade for Jones. While this is something that is interesting to think about, the Patriots may have had to cut him and all it would have cost the Jacksonville Jaguars was money to get him. In a world where general managers covet draft picks like mementos, this is difficult to think as a positive.
While the Jacksonville Jaguars obviously did not know which teams were targeting Mac Jones or even calling about a trade, this is a massive victory for the New England Patriots to get anything for him.
How long will Mac Jones be with the Jacksonville Jaguars?
The Jacksonville Jaguars now have a decision to make with two quarterbacks in the same draft class about a fifth-year option coming up. However, both situations seem clear as Mac Jones’ $25.6 million fifth-year option is going to be declined by the team and allow him to become an unrestricted free agent after the 2024 season.
Will Mac Jones continue to believe he is a starting quarterback in the NFL? If he does, this could be a one-year rental on the backup quarterback. He is under contract for $2.785 million for the 2024 season, according to Spotrac, so the financial number does not really hit them. It also helps that if Trevor Lawrence gets injured, they have a quarterback with experience starting games.
With Mac Jones returning to his hometown team, this could be a great fit for him to be the backup quarterback and get his value up if he steps foot on the field this season. Otherwise, it seems like 2024 may be his only season in Duval.