The quarterback market could start moving fast, and the 49ers may be one of the first teams to hear the phone ring.
With the Commanders losing Jayden Daniels (elbow) and the Giants losing Jaxson Dart (knee) for a significant time, if not the year, the need for help under center is suddenly staring a couple of teams right in the face. That puts Mac Jones in the spotlight, because San Francisco has a viable starter sitting behind Brock Purdy.
If the Giants come calling, they might even be the team with the strongest case to make a push. Jameis Winston was dreadful against the Rams on Monday Night Football, and the Giants have to look at every option they’ve got. Jones would be at the top of that list.
Still, the 49ers should treat any inquiry the same way: no thanks. The answer has to be immediate, and it has to be no. Jones is too important to San Francisco right now to move, no matter who asks or what gets offered.
That’s the reality of the 49ers’ situation after two games this season. They look good, and Jones is their best insurance policy if Purdy gets hurt. Without him, the floor drops hard.
They’ve already seen what that kind of backup value can mean. Jones helped keep them afloat and their playoff hopes alive last year when Purdy went down. The 49ers know exactly how ugly things can get when the quarterback room thins out.
And the warning signs around the league only make that clearer. Starting quarterbacks are already dropping early this season, which should be enough for San Francisco to hold tight even if a team dangles a first-round pick.
The real window to move Jones would have been before or during the NFL Draft, when the 49ers could have used the return to add a player who might help this season. Even then, the idea never made much sense. Keeping Jones gives San Francisco more value now than chasing a rookie would have.
The team has lived through this kind of nightmare before, too. In 2023, Purdy tore his UCL in the NFC Championship Game against the Eagles. If the 49ers had had an adequate backup like Jones in that spot, they might have won the game, or at the very least kept it competitive instead of being out of it once Purdy was gone.
So the calls may come. That part seems likely.
But the 49ers should not be tempted, and they probably won’t be. Their interest, if they make any move at all, would be for a defensive lineman or a receiver.
Anything else, and they’d only be weakening themselves by sending Jones away.
In Other News...
Seaver King Is Giving Nationals Fans A New Reason To Watch Rochester
Seaver King has turned Rochester into a more compelling watch for Nationals fans at just the right time, and the Triple-A shortstop kept it rolling in the opening game of the International League Finals. The Nationals No. 4 prospect delivered three hits and helped Rochester edge Memphis, another reminder that his late-season surge has carried well beyond the regular season and into the postseason.
Kings progress has given Washington something useful to track as the organization looks ahead, especially after what he showed during the year in the minors. His rise has been built on stronger contact, more impact at the plate and a season that has already marked him as one of the more promising names in the system, making every trip to Rochester feel a little more relevant to what comes next in D.C. [Read more 🡒]
CJ Abrams Just Gave Nationals Fans A Milestone Worth Watching
CJ Abrams kept giving the Nationals a reason to pay attention in a season that has been better than many expected, powering a 3-1 win with two home runs and all three RBIs. Washington also got useful work on the mound, with Riley Cornelio and Jackson Kent both helping their ERAs, and the bullpen finishing the job behind scoreless innings from Jack Sinclair and Erik Tolman.
Abrams' night carried a little extra weight because it pushed him into a rare statistical neighborhood, one that only a small handful of big leaguers have reached in a single season. The milestone sits there now as one more marker of how much he has grown into the center of this lineup, even if the full significance of the achievement still feels like it could keep building from here. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Enter Mets Weekend With A Late Surge Fans Can Feel
The Nationals have spent the closing stretch of the season looking more like a team with something to build on than one simply running out the string. Washington picked up its 75th win with another sharp showing, riding an 8-3 mark over its last 11 games and getting a boost from YoYo Morales, whose two-run homer helped carry the offense while the bullpen kept things steady over 7 2/3 innings.
As the club heads into its final series against the Mets with three games left, the recent run has given the room a little more life and a clearer sense of progress. Nasim Nuezs legs have been part of that energy all year, and the Nationals now have one more chance to finish the season on a high note against a division opponent that will help frame how this late push is remembered. [Read more 🡒]