5 teams that make sense for a possible Mac Jones trade
If Jones is out of New England, he could be a solid backup quarterback option for a few teams.
The end of Mac Jones’s time in New England seems all but official.
The Patriots are “open” to trading the quarterback, who has interest on the market, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported Friday.
The Broncos weren’t linked to Jones in the leadup to the 2021 NFL Draft, but the team their current head coach used to work for was.
Sean Payton said ahead of the Saints’ matchup against the Patriots in 2021 that the team was “really high” on Jones ahead of the draft that year.
“I think he processes information fast,” Payton told reporters at the time. “At Alabama, if you watch closely his tape, the ball comes out, decisions are made fast. I think he sees the field horizontally as well as vertically well. He has the arm to make the throws that you want. His decision-making and processing are where I felt were really strong suits with him, and I think he’s handling it well.
“It’s not easy to all of a sudden come in and start Week 1 as a rookie, but he’s a smart player.”
Payton praised Jones even further in a conversation with Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer a few days later, reportedly saying that “not Mac Jones” when asked which first-round quarterback from the draft was the least likely to bust.
“I loved him coming out,” Payton added. “But as I saw him on film this week he makes really fast decisions, he’s hard for us to sack as a young quarterback, but it’s also gonna be hard for us to bait him into rookie mistakes.”
