Mac Jones' strong preseason raises questions about Patriots trade

After the Patriots' disastrous 2023 season, it was clear that the offense needed a complete remodel, starting from the quarterback position. Despite arguably not being set up for success during his New England tenure, Mac Jones did not look like the franchise's future, which was disappointing after being projected to be one of the best of his quarterback class in 2021.

Bill Belichick made that more apparent by benching Jones midseason. His struggles continued to put the team in a hole they couldn't escape, even with the impressive performance by the defense week to week.

It created a toxic atmosphere in the locker room on their path to winning just four games on the season, which inevitably led to Jones' trade to start the offseason earlier this year.

It was a move that was likely coming no matter who was in charge, Belichick or the new regime led by Jerod Mayo and Eliot Wolf. While it was mostly applauded, the decision is now coming into question as preseason nears the end.

Mac Jones' preseason performance makes Patriots trade decision questionable

Preseason performances are often overvalued and considered a surefire sign of what's to come from a team or individual players. We all fall victim to this narrative as we impatiently wait for the regular season to begin, and perhaps that could be applied to Jones' reaction to last week's Week 2 performance against the Bucs.

Although that might be the case, it would be unjust not to mention how well he performed after the season he had last year, where moments of Jones performing like a former first-round pick were few and far between at best.

In that game, he completed 16/23 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns, and he had no turnovers, a fate he couldn't escape during last season.

Jones followed that performance up a week later with another solid showing against the Falcons to close out the preseason.

He finished this game by completing 13/18 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown while also adding a carry for 8 yards.

It caught the attention of NFL fans on social media, especially Jaguars and Patriots fans, and given the less-than-ideal offseason from Bailey Zappe, trading Jones seems a bit more questionable at this point in the preseason.

His starter status might have been taken away because of his struggles last year, but Jones could have competed for a backup role on this year's team much like he is with the Jaguars.

He wanted to be traded to his hometown team despite knowing he would spend most of the time on the bench, proving he was open to the demotion and probably would have been with New England, as well.

Jones could have been a more solid backup than what Zappe has shown thus far and could have provided more reliable insurance behind Jacoby Brissett and Drake Maye with Joe Milton III, adding veteran experience to help fill the rookie gap.

Unfortunately, that's a thing of the past, and Jones will now be an excellent depth piece for the Jacksonville quarterback room. If he maintains this level of performance, even from the bench, it could only make the trade look worse, but let's hope we don't get to that point.

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