Sources — San Francisco 49ers’ commerce for No. Three draft choose spurred by concern over New England Patriots shifting up for Mac Jones
One of the many reasons the San Francisco 49ers finished third overall on this year’s NFL draft was their belief that the New England Patriots could move up to third and beat them against Alabama quarterback Mac Jones, league sources shared with ESPN . with .
Wanting to position themselves to pick a quarterback for the future, San Francisco believed there were several worthy candidates out there. But the 49ers were also concerned that the Patriots would overtake them in the draft and position themselves to pick Jones before San Francisco could.
Looking at the well-documented relationship between Bill Belichick and Nick Saban, the 49ers knew that New England was not yet exploring the quarterback prospect in the draft. The Niners also believed at the time that Jones was the prospect the Patriots identified as their potential future quarterback.
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That belief helped the Niners finalize the deal in late March that sent three first-round draft picks to the Miami Dolphins to move up to No. 3, which gave them the opportunity to draft Jones or any other quarterback they could considered this slot worthy.
San Francisco eventually decided Trey Lance was their quarterback of choice, and Jones ended up at New England anyway – without the Patriots having to give up any additional compensation.
Jones will start New England’s season opener against Miami on Sunday, while Lance will serve as San Francisco’s replacement for Jimmy Garoppolo against the Detroit Lions.
