Can Patriots Get 'Great Value' in Potential Mac Jones Trade?
Are the New England Patriots serious about trading third-year quarterback Mac Jones?
Recent reports have suggested that the Patriots have at the least entertained the idea, but there has been a contradiction from others who suggest that they hadn't heard of any trade talks. Albert Breer became the latest NFL insider to weigh in on the rumors during an interview with NBC Sports Boston.
“I think what happened was, and I’ve got this on good authority,” Breer said of the reports. “While those calls are being made during the combine, before free agency, when teams are talking about names back and forth, Mac Jones’s name came up a few times.”
But...
“I think part of the issue now is that they wouldn’t get great value for him.”
So Breer does confirm that, at the very least, Jones's name has come up in trade talks, but nothing has progressed, which is likely due to his value, as Breer noted.
This makes sense after a perceived sophomore slump in 2022, where Jones and the Patriots' offense as a whole regressed from a good year prior; who would want to give the Patriots a first-round pick? Moreover, Jones didn't look comfortable in Matt Patricia's offense and even showed his frustrations publicly during games, much to the now-reported dismay of Bill Belichick.
“He feels like Mac made the problem worse,” Breer said of Belichick's thoughts on Jones. “I know there’s some other people in the building that feel the same way.”
This makes it seem like there is a rift even after Belichick decided to move on from the Patricia and Joe Judge experiment by bringing back veteran coordinator Bill O'Brien. Yet, if the reports are to be believed, the Patriots head coach still has some issues with how Jones handled himself in the face of a tumultuous season.
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