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San Francisco 49ers quarterback Mac Jones is the team’s biggest insurance policy entering the 2026 season.
Niners starting quarterback Brock Purdy has missed time due to injuries throughout his career, and San Francisco can ill afford to have an average backup. Jones has substantial starting experience, but as Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport sees it, there is a condition in which the 49ers do trade Jones.
Davenport believes it only happens if “another team makes a Godfather offer” for Jones. Indeed, the Niners will need major compensation to justify the trade because the odds of a downgrade at backup quarterback are high.
The Niners would need key players at other offensive positions to aid a less-experienced or less-talented backup quarterback. In addition, the 49ers may see a new backup quarterback coming that way in such a deal.
Since a few teams have tradeable backup quarterbacks, it’s possible the 49ers could entertain those teams, but they all carry risks. Davenport outlined a few backups elsewhere in the league who could get traded.
Teams to watch for include the Cleveland Browns, Atlanta Falcons, Indianapolis Colts, Minnesota Vikings and Las Vegas Raiders. Cleveland has too many quarterbacks, Atlanta and Minnesota have quarterback battles to settle, Indianapolis looks done with Anthony Richardson and Las Vegas could be a dark horse.
If the Raiders turn the keys over quickly to No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza and Purdy goes down in the Bay Area, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan is a big Kirk Cousins fan.
San Francisco has ample salary cap space at $71.4 million available to trade for Cousins, who has $1.3 million this year from the Raiders and $11.3 million guaranteed in 2027. Las Vegas would have to give up much more than Cousins however, and the Niners could certainly claim a high second-round pick at the very least in that sort of trade.
Aforementioned scenarios aside, San Francisco will be on the Godfather trade watch with Jones as quarterback-needy teams arise in the coming weeks or months.
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