Patriots Rumors: How Mac Jones Handling Uncertain Future With Team

Mac Jones apparently is going to keep putting in work for the Patriots until they tell him not to.

Jones probably is on borrowed time in New England. The 2021 first-round pick was awful across the first half of the 2023 season and lost his starting job to a mediocre-at-best Bailey Zappe heading into Week 13. To no surprise, Jones playing with a new team reportedly is his "most likely" outcome for 2024.

But a bleak outlook on his future in Foxboro, Mass., reportedly hasn't diminished Jones' commitment to the Patriots. According to ESPN's Mike Reiss, the 25-year-old has been "working out regularly at the team facility this offseason." Jones was at One Patriot Place the day the franchise formally introduced Jerod Mayo, even though the new head coach might play a big hand in replacing Jones this offseason.

With Bill Belichick now out of the picture in New England, the door reportedly is not shut on Jones playing out his rookie contract with the Patriots. But if there proves to be an active trade market for the Alabama product, New England absolutely should make a push to deal Jones.

The Patriots can find a veteran signal-caller to round out the position's depth chart elsewhere. And if you're Jones, you probably should welcome and embrace a change of scenery after back-to-back hellacious campaigns.