Mac Jones lit up the preseason for the 49ers, and now every quarterback-needy team in the league is wondering what it would take to pry him out of San Francisco. The answer is the same as it was in April. Way more than anyone wants to pay.
The Indianapolis Colts are the latest team connected to Jones in trade speculation. Chris Ballard’s front office recently handed Daniel Jones a substantial extension, but Daniel’s injury history is a real concern over a 17-game slate. Having Mac Jones as insurance would make sense on paper. Making it happen is a different problem entirely.
John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan have said all offseason they have zero interest in moving Jones. The reason is simple. Brock Purdy has a history of getting banged up. Losing Purdy means losing the season unless you have a real NFL starter behind him. That’s exactly what Mac Jones proved he was last year.
Jones stepped in for an injured Purdy in 2025 and threw for 2,151 yards and 13 touchdowns across eight starts. That’s real starter-quality production in Shanahan’s offense. The 49ers aren’t giving up their contingency plan for a Day 2 pick, and reports indicate no team has met their asking price of a Day 1 selection.
The Colts don’t want to give up a first-rounder for a backup either. That’s the standoff. San Francisco wants first-round value. Any acquiring team sees a career backup with one good half season as second-round value at best. Neither side is bending before the season.
Jones himself addressed the rumors this summer and said all the right things about being ready wherever the team needs him. That’s the professional answer, but it’s also the truth of his situation. He gets paid the same either way, and if Purdy gets hurt again, Mac Jones becomes the most important player on a Super Bowl contender.
Verdict: No trade before Week 1. The 49ers hold firm, the Colts move on to cheaper backup options, and Mac Jones stays in San Francisco. The real trade window opens in-season if a starting quarterback goes down somewhere and a contender panics.
Think about the market. If Cincinnati loses Joe Burrow for a stretch, or if a team like Denver has a Bo Nix injury, suddenly a Day 1 pick for a proven backup makes sense. That’s when Shanahan and Lynch can extract real value.
Until then, this is August noise. Mac Jones is too valuable to the 49ers as insurance for a Super Bowl window, and the Colts have too many roster holes to spend premium capital on a backup they hope never plays.
The story dies the moment Purdy takes a healthy first snap in Week 1 against Seattle. Anybody planning a Mac Jones jersey purchase in Indianapolis should hold off.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
