Since the Tom Brady era ended, the New England Patriots have been a carousel of quarterbacks who have come and gone with limited success.
That includes former 2021 No. 15 draft pick Mac Jones who flamed out in three seasons with the Patriots before a 2024 trade to the Jacksonville Jaguars. However, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell sees better things coming for Jones in his latest stop with the San Francisco 49ers as backup to Brock Purdy.
“Jones probably isn’t going to win the job away from the $265 million QB, but don’t be surprised if he plays well enough to get a more significant opportunity elsewhere on his next deal in 2026,” Barnwell wrote.
Playing well enough is the part New England fans didn’t see from Jones in 2022 and 2023, and his one-year stint as a backup in Jacksonville followed suit. That said, San Francisco has already been the site for another former first round quarterback to turn his career around as a backup and become a starter elsewhere — Sam Darnold.
“If there’s one player attempting to explicitly go on the Darnold rejuvenation path, it’s Jones. Darnold restarted his career by joining the 49ers in 2023, where he spent the season as a backup,” Barnwell wrote. “Darnold threw only 46 passes in a San Francisco uniform, most of which came in a meaningless Week 18 game against the Rams.”
“Working with coach Kyle Shanahan apparently did enough to rebuild Darnold’s confidence before he left for a one-year deal with Minnesota, though. You know what happened next,” Barnwell added.
Patriots fans know all too well what Darnold was with the New York Jets. The former No. 3 pick went 13-25 in three seasons and threw for 8,097 yards and 45 touchdowns versus 39 picks. Darnold went 0-4 against the Patriots in his career, and that included the year Cam Newton was the main starting quarterback in Foxborough.
Mac Jones Had a Stronger Career Start Than Sam Darnold
GettyMac Jones showed promise early on with the Patriots.
Jones actually had more success in his three years with the Patriots than Darnold did with the Jets. The former Alabama star went 10-7 as a rookie and threw for 3,801 yards and 22 touchdowns versus 13 picks before the regression of 2022 and 2023.
“Like Darnold, Jones was once regarded as a promising young quarterback, only for his game to fall apart amid injuries, porous offensive lines and questionable coaching,” Barnwell wrote. “That story was always a little too simplistic — the Patriots did a great job of protecting him in obvious passing situations as a rookie —but whatever confidence he had quickly fell by the wayside.”
“He spent most of his sophomore season arguing with Matt Patricia and Joe Judge. In Year 3, with undrafted rookie DeMario Douglas as his top wideout, he was benched for Bailey Zappe,” Barnwell added.
Jones then “looked lost in moments” when he did see the field in Jacksonville as Barnwell put it. In seven starts for the injured Trevor Lawrence, Jones went 2-5 and threw for 1,672 yards and eight touchdowns versus eight picks.
“He was extremely sensitive to even the threat of pressure and sometimes missed open receivers from clean pockets,” Barnwell wrote. “There’s still some anticipation there — he has moments when he looks like an accurate passer — but he didn’t have the sort of consistency needed from a starting NFL signal-caller.”
Mac Jones’ Last Stop Looked Like Sam Darnold’s Pre-49ers Stop
GettyMac Jones had limited success in Jacksonville.
Jones’ experience in Jacksonville resembles Darnold’s with the Carolina Panthers in 2021 and 2022 where he couldn’t get the consistency needed to thrive as a starter. Now, Jones can take advantage of a similar situation to Darnold’s with the Niners — a team that has played in two Super Bowls and four NFC Championship Games since 2019.
“This will be the best offensive infrastructure Jones has played in since his time at Alabama,” Barnwell wrote. “The question is whether he ever sees the field.”
“There has been a need for a reliable backup in San Francisco, even after Purdy’s ascension,” Barnwell added. “Purdy suffered a serious elbow injury in the 2022 NFC Championship Game, left a 2023 loss to the Ravens with a stinger and missed two games in 2024 with shoulder and elbow injuries.”
If the Niners see Purdy go down for a fourth-straight season, Jones could get his chance to turn things around in his career with a team that passed on him in the 2021 draft before he landed with New England.
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