Patriots Trade Idea: QB Swap With 49ers?

As the reign of one former New England Patriot potentially ends, Pro Football Talk believes that the San Francisco 49ers should call Foxboro again to swap Mac Jones and Trey Lance.

The San Francisco 49ers bid farewell to Jimmy Garoppolo and were rejected by Tom Brady. But, if Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio has his way, the Bay Area will still be able to fulfill its apparent quota of former New England Patriot passers.

Advocating for a fresh start for Trey Lance amidst aerial chaos in New England involving Mac Jones, Florio proposed that the 49ers and Patriots do business once more. The closer to a Friday column on Pro Football Talk suggests that each side send over its respective embattled thrower from the 2021 NFL Draft. 

"Here’s a potential transaction that makes plenty of sense: Lance for Mac Jones, straight up," Florio declares. "The 49ers would get the quarterback many believe (head coach Kyle) Shanahan wanted to take with the third overall pick in 2021. The Patriots would unload a disgruntled player who has alienated coach Bill Belichick by overriding the Stepford Patriot programming.

"The two teams did some quarterback business more than five years ago, for Jimmy Garoppolo. This would be an intriguing bit of potential business, if both sides realize that it could be the best way for both players, and both franchises, to move forward."

While there are still plenty of reasons to believe in Lance, there's no guarantee he'll get the 49ers' starting quarterback duties back. Garoppolo has moved on to Las Vegas but Brock Purdy, the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, capitalized on an expected opportunity when injuries thrust him to the top of the depth en route to the NFC title game. 

San Francisco also signed another first-round choice seeking redemption in Sam Darnold. Though the third overall choice of the 2018 draft has hardly lived up to his billing, he showed some promise at the offensive helm of the Carolina Panthers in the latter stages of last season in the form of a 4-2 record as a starter and a career-best 92.5 passer rating.

Intriguing as such a deal would be, going with an unproven veteran like Lance would probably do little to improve the Patriots' immediate forecast. It's hardly Lance's fault: injuries have limited him to eight appearances and 102 passes through his first two professional seasons. But Jones, at the very least, has proven at least somewhat capable of passable efforts at the NFL level. He was at the forefront of a playoff run in 2021-22 and helped keep the Patriots in contention for a Wild Card spot until the final stages of last season. 

During his time at North Dakota State, Lance hinted he could be a dual-threat talent that Belichick has reportedly sought and desired. But if New England has been reluctant to barter for a proven, if not fragile, multi-faceted quarterback like Lamar Jackson ... only four years removed from an MVP campaign ... there's little chance they'd exchange one question for another.

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Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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