More sources throw cold water on latest Patriots rumors

This week has been quite the whirlwind for the Patriots in the news cycle. After walking back his comments made at the annual owner’s meeting last week, Bill Belichick was under fire once again on Tuesday.

The report published by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk suggested the Patriots’ head coach had contacted teams around the league about trading Mac Jones in recent weeks. Initial reactions were all over the place, with most believing the story due to the alleged tension between Jones and his head coach.

But beat reporters quickly shot down the allegations, citing people close to the Patriots and teams named in the report as sources.

Mark Daniels of Mass Live was the first to publish what his sources had revealed to him, all of which denied hearing anything about Belichick attempting to trade Jones. Later that night, Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald supported Daniels’ reporting with his sources.

"“Checking with league sources today, I found no belief the #Patriots will trade Mac Jones. One team source called the “shopped” report nonsense. It struck others around the league as likely old news overstated. Jones was in the building today and has been regularly, per sources.”"

Considering that Belichick’s personnel choices since the end of last season seem to align with the idea of moving forward with Jones under center, it seems unlikely that this news is recent or accurate.

Additionally, news like this doesn’t typically leave the doors of Gillette Stadium, but if it had, it would have likely been revealed far sooner than this week.

The more significant issue at hand is how Jones is handling the constant reports of Belichick showing no faith in him as the Patriots’ quarterback. It’s bound to take a toll on his confidence, regardless of how much work he puts in, and could impact their alleged strained relationship moving forward.