To say it’s been an interesting off-season between Mac Jones and the New England Patriots would probably be an understatement.
It got off to a rocky start at the end of March when Bill Belichick suggested that Jones would not necessarily be the team’s starting QB in 2023 and that he may have to compete with Bailey Zappe for the job. Things went crazy in early April when Pro Football Talk reported that Belichick Jones was out shopping around for a possible trade. Despite that speculation, Rob Gronkowski is a person who does not see a trade happening.
The former tight end of the Patriots, who spent nine seasons in New England, understands the inner workings of the team better than most, and based on what Gronk has to say, it’s almost impossible that the Patriots are considering bringing Jones this year. to exchange.
“I think that was fake news,” Gronk said on “Up and Adams” when asked about the trading speculation. “There was just too much sales this year. I mean [Belichick] Already has a new offensive coordinator that he’s put on just the entire offensive staff has basically been transferred this year, and then when you ship your quarterback that’s just too much turnover to have in one season in the NFL and to be able to compete the following year.”
If you think about what the Patriots have been up to this offseason, it wouldn’t make much sense to trade Jones. First, New England replaced the coach Jones didn’t get along with (Matt Patricia). At one point last season, Jones advice from outside the organization because he was so frustrated with Patricia. Apparently, Belichick wasn’t happy with Jones’ decision, but it seems he at least understood, as eventually the Patriots coach made a switch.
The team brought in an offensive coordinator in Bill O’Brien, who has a positive history with Jones. Those two moves would suggest that the Patriots are trying to make Jones successful this year, not replace him.
And if the Patriots traded Jones in the coming weeks, they wouldn’t have many options as a starting quarterback. At this point, they would basically have three options: turn to Zappe, draft a starter, or try to sign Lamar Jackson. If you go with Zappe or a rookie, you’ll be dealing with an unproven resource and would almost have to start all over again. As for Jackson, who apparently wants to play for the Patriotshe could work, but it would cost New England a lot of money and at least two first rounds to pry him out of Baltimore unless a sign-and-trade is worked out.
Based on all that, Jones really seems like the best option for the Patriots this year.
While all the evidence seems to suggest Jones will be safe this year, that doesn’t mean he’ll be safe after that. As Gronk points out, if Jones struggles in 2023, Belichick could finally be open to trading his starting quarterback, but not until the next offseason.
“Going forward, if Mac Jones doesn’t pull it off this year with Billy O’Brien and stuff, I see that as a possibility after this season,” Gronkowski said. “But I don’t think that’s been true so far during this off-season, and I just have to label that as fake news.”
There you have it: the Gronk has spoken and the Gronk says Jones will not be traded this off-season, but he could be traded in 2024 if he struggles this year.