49ers reportedly expected to receive ‘big offers' for potential Mac Jones trade originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Kyle Shanahan said it himself: The 49ers don’t anticipate trading away backup quarterback Mac Jones this offseason.
But what if a QB-needy team makes San Francisco an offer it can’t refuse?
Such teams faced with a weak 2026 NFL Draft class of signal-callers, like the Minnesota Vikings, are expected to make “big offers” for Jones this offseason, The Athletic’s Vic Tafur reported in a piece published Monday.
Jones filled in admirably when starter Brock Purdy was sidelined by a toe injury last season, completing 201 of his 289 attempts for 2,151 yards, 13 touchdowns and six interceptions in 11 games with eight starts. Jones’ completion percentage (69.6), rating (97.4) and touchdown percentage (4.5) all were the best of his career.
“As any player on our team, including myself and John [Lynch], you always listen to people and trade offers, but we’re also not into getting rid of good players,” Shanahan told reporters at his end-of-season press conference in Santa Clara last month. “So, I’d be very surprised if Mac wasn’t around us next year.”
Tafur floated the idea of a price war for Jones, writing, “The bidding starts with a third-round pick … do we hear a second-round pick? Going once, going twice …”
And in a hypothetical 49ers-Vikings trade laid out by ESPN’s Bill Barnwell last week, Minnesota received Jones and a 2027 third-round while sending a 2026 second-round pick, 2027 fifth-round pick (conditional) and 2028 third-round pick (conditional) to San Francisco.
Jones himself has stated he aspires to be an NFL starter again, but there’s no denying how valuable he is to the 49ers as Purdy’s more-than-capable backup. And despite the anticipated trade offers for Jones, San Francisco has “no plans” to deal him according to a Feb. 8 report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
But things move fast in the NFL, and there’s no doubt the 49ers will listen on any player of the price is right.