Could Mac Jones Be On The Move Soon?
Could Mac Jones be out of New England soon?
Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio reported on Tuesday morning that the Alabama alumnus has been "shopped" during this offseason.
"Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Belichick has shopped Jones to multiple teams during the 2023 offseason," wrote Florio. "The full list of potential destinations isn’t known. The teams mentioned as potential destinations were the Raiders, Texans, Buccaneers, and Commanders."
The news came less than one hour after Florio also reported that Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and the former national champion's relationship was getting strained after last year's woes.
It's no secret that the Patriots had a struggling offense last season, however it got so bad that Jones had to look for some help locally.
"It started with Jones being on the wrong side of the failed experiment to replace offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels with, well, not an offensive coordinator," wrote Florio. "As Chris Simms explained on Monday’s PFT Live, Jones actually started calling members of the Alabama coaching staff in order to get some information as to how to properly run the offense under long-time defensive coach Matt Patricia."
Belichick has gone through multiple changes this offseason that seemed to indicate that he was staying with Jones.
He hired former Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien to be the OC in New England. Why would he hire an Alabama mind if he was going to let go of his Alabama quarterback?
The six-time Super Bowl champion has also acquired new offensive weapons, including running back James Robinson from the New York Jets. tight end Mike Gesicki from Miami, and wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster from Kansas City. Why would you add veterans to the program if you're planning on changing the leader?
Regardless of if the trade rumors are true or not, these issues will hurt both parties involved.
For Jones, being thrown under the bus and your coach publicly not having faith in you could hurt his value if it is decided to move on from him down the stretch or in free agency.
For Belichick, even if Jones does not get traded this offseason, these issues might prevent him from re-signing with the Patriots after his rookie contract is up.
Only time will tell how this situation plays out.