NFL analyst explains why Patriots could move on from Mac Jones

At least one NFL expert believes there’s no way that Mac Jones remains with the Patriots. Rather, New England will use their lofty draft pick on another quarterback.

This is according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. A reader asked about Jones in this week’s mailbag. And the news wasn’t very good for Jones, the former Alabama standout and first-round pick from 2021.

“It’s not that I think Jones is a lost cause,” Breer wrote. “It’s that his cause in New England is lost.”

Breer doesn’t believe Jones is someone who will get a fresh start with new Patriots coach Jerod Mayo, who replaced Bill Belichick last month. Breer described so much toxicity involving Jones.

“It’s really hard to live down your history with an NFL team,” Breer wrote. “And Jones’s with the New England Patriots is not good. He was drafted 15th and hasn’t come close to living up to his slot. He was good as a rookie, and regressed badly since. He was well-liked early on, but, over time, lost support in the building. And the quarterback room he was in the last two years got toxic, to the point where Bailey Zappe, as a rookie, sometimes watched tape in the receiver room.”

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Jones played in only 11 games last season. By Thanksgiving, Belichick decided to go in a different quarterback direction. Mayo was on the defensive staff. But he still could tell what was unfolding on the offensive side of the ball. Jones threw 12 interceptions with only 10 touchdowns. He also threw for 2,120 yards.

“That’s a lot of wounds, some self-inflicted, some not, to try and heal—and wounds that Jerod Mayo saw surface with his own eyes as a Patriots assistant,” Breer wrote. “You can’t snap your fingers and make that history disappear with coaches and staff. What happens if Jones comes back and has some bumps in the offseason, in camp or in an early game? Everyone will point right back to the history. Which makes for a tough environment for Jones to try and move forward in, and potentially a tough spot for Mayo to dig his first team out of.”

So what do the Patriots do? Well, they own the third pick of April’s NFL Draft. That means they could be in line for one of the top quarterbacks in a possibly historically elite class. With two weeks before the NFL Scouting Combine, USC’s Caleb Williams is the consensus top choice. Then it’s either Drake Maye of North Carolina or LSU’s Jayden Daniels. As many as six quarterbacks could go in the first round, but there’s a drop between the next three of Michigan’s JJ McCarthy, Bo Nix of Oregon and Washington’s Michael Penix.

Breer projects Jones to a team like the 49ers, where he could work as a backup and reset his career.