The New York Jets enter Week 11 of the 2025 season with a 2-8 record, and yet again, they have seemingly no reason for hope, at least in the foreseeable future. They have been playing quarterback carousel for what seems like decades, and they haven’t been able to find that one man who can deliver them from the NFL’s dungeon.
The 2026 draft class is expected to be weak at the quarterback position, which means that if they are to upgrade from Justin Fields, they will likely have to look to the trade market. Luckily, there could be a decent option available for them.
Mac Jones, a former first-round draft pick in 2021, started this year as the San Francisco 49ers‘ second-string signal-caller, but with starter Brock Purdy missing eight games due to a toe injury, Jones filled in quite well. He will now be heading back to the sideline with Purdy slated to return as the 49ers’ starter on Sunday, and he has played so well that he apparently will have trade value this offseason if they decide to move him.
Connor Rogers reported on X (formerly Twitter) that Jones would make sense as a trade target for the Jets this spring.
Jones was hyped as a potential star after he led the University of Alabama to a victory in the 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship game. The hype continued to grow after he made the Pro Bowl and led the New England Patriots to their first playoff appearance after Tom Brady’s departure during his rookie season.
But he played disappointing football over the last three seasons, leading many to dismiss him as a bust.
However, Jones has thrown for 2,151 yards and 13 touchdowns while completing 69.6% of his passing attempts in eight starts for San Francisco this season. He’s second in the NFL in passing yards per game and seventh in pass completion percentage, and he’s proving that perhaps he can be a long-term solution under center given the right situation.
The problem for the Jets is that they don’t seem to have the infrastructure to help a young quarterback thrive. In recent seasons, they drafted Geno Smith and Sam Darnold and watched them struggle, only to later see them both become Pro Bowl quarterbacks with other teams.
2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.