The context has fully changed.
San Francisco 49ers v New York Giants | Sarah Stier/GettyImages
The NFL trade deadline is hours away, and the San Francisco 49ers are definitely in the market to stay in play for a run at the Super Bowl. There's plenty of moves the Niners can consider making; whether it's giving up future draft capital or even one of their key contributors.
However, the 49ers won't be willing to trade Mac Jones away at this time.
Since Jones took over as the starter in place of the still-injured Brock Purdy, his team has gone 5-2 (6-3 overall). And Jones has been a big reason for the Niners remaining in contention. He's completed 67.2 percent of his passes for 1,832 yards (his 261.7 passing yards per game is ranked fourth in the league), 10 touchdowns to five interceptions. Jones is playing some of his best ball as he's putting up a career-best for him in passer rating (93.6) and QBR (61.1).
Although there are plenty of teams that would look at Jones and his production and want to take a chance on him, the 2021 first-round draftee has almost put himself in a position where San Francisco can't afford to move him. He would bring the 49ers a solid return. But, given the fact that [Purdy's turf toe](https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/46823310/purdy-unlikely-100-year-says-49ers-shanahan) isn't likely to fully heal up anytime soon, Jones is essentially a non-negotiable asset right now.
The stats are there. The injury to Purdy is too serious to bring him back right away again. And with more reinforcements set to come in with Brandon Aiyuk and Ricky Pearsall potentially being fully healthy, the Niners can afford to ride out with Jones a little longer.
But, that doesn't mean the 49ers can't look to continue to add more to his value before the end of the season.
The projected free-agent quarterbacks in 2026 aren't the most promising outside of a few possible names. Daniel Jones is likely going to be re-signed by the Indianapolis Colts. Aaron Rodgers will potentially get one more season before retirement talks really start. Joe Flacco is another quarterback over age 40 whom a team could take another flyer on. But outside of those three, there's Russell Wilson, Marcus Mariota, Zac Wilson and Tyrod Taylor as far as a few other names to play as a backup for another season.
And even outside of the underwhelming free agency class, what other quarterback is going to be traded with the level of production Jones has had at such a cheap contract? Plus, if a team is unsure about the skill level for this upcoming quarterback draft class, Jones is a perfect option to know what you already can get.
So, right now, Jones can't be traded. But, unless he pulls off a Kurt Warner-type run for the Niners, he's definitely going to get San Francisco a great return on the investment.