Sources: Patriots complete quarterback Mac Jones’ deal to the Jaguars

According to league sources who spoke with ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Sunday, the New England Patriots and the Jacksonville Jaguars are nearing completion of a trade for quarterback Mac Jones.
According to those who spoke with Schefter, the Patriots will be compensated with a sixth-round selection in 2024. The deal cannot be completed unless Jones passes a medical on Wednesday, the start of the new league season.

With the third overall choice in the NFL draft, many in the league anticipate that New England would choose one of the top quarterbacks, most likely between North Carolina’s Drake Maye and LSU’s Jayden Daniels.
Jones, a native of Jacksonville, signs with his native club to serve as Trevor Lawrence’s backup. Lawrence is the first choice in the 2021 draft. The 15th pick overall in the 2021 draft was Jones.
Jones will likely go off against C.J. Beathard to be Lawrence’s main backup. Beathard signed a two-year, $4.5 million deal before to the 2023 season, and he is now in the last year of it.
In his three seasons in Jacksonville, Beathard has only started one game. In Week 17 of the previous season, he led the Jaguars to a 26-0 win against the Carolina Panthers by passing on 17 of 24 passes for 178 yards. The Jaguars ended 9-8 and missed the playoffs; it was their lone victory in their last six games.
Up to missing Week 17 due to a right throwing shoulder injury he sustained in the previous week during a defeat against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Lawrence had started every game in his NFL career. Last season, Lawrence fought a number of ailments, including a sprained left knee, sprained ankle, concussion, and shoulder injury. For the last three weeks of the season, he did not fully participate in any of the practices.
Jones’ three-year career with the Patriots started off well; during his debut year, he was chosen as an alternate for the Pro Bowl. Jones started every one of the Patriots’ 17 regular-season games as they finished 10-7 and guaranteed a spot in the postseason (losing 47-17 to the Buffalo Bills in the wild-card round).
As a rookie, Jones went 352-of-521 for 3,801 yards with 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions; but, during the next two seasons, his output declined. The first of numerous personnel and coaching changes that had an impact on Jones’ growth was the departure of offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to take a position as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.
As the team’s offensive playcaller in 2022, former Patriots coach Bill Belichick turned to veteran defensive coach Matt Patricia, requesting Patricia to carry out his offensive philosophy. Joe Judge, a longtime special teams coach, was appointed quarterbacks coach. Judge, Patricia, and Jones’ marriage didn’t work out as planned; Jones completed 288-of-442 for 2,997 yards with 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Jones also had an ankle injury early in the season, and he admitted that he should have made better judgments while playing.
In an attempt to get Jones back on track, Belichick then brought in former Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien to oversee the offense in 2023, but it never worked out. Last season, Jones completed 224 of 345 passes for 2,120 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. After 11 games, Belichick benched Jones in favor of Bailey Zappe.
On the Patriots’ quarterback depth chart right now are second-year player Nathan Rourke and Zappe.
The club only received one pick overall and one extra choice in the sixth round of the draft if they were to have a sixth-round pick.

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