The Bill Belichick-Mac Jones relationship soured over the course of the Patriots’ tumultuous 2022 season.
And according to one report, their time together may be over for good.
Belichick has shopped Jones in trade talks with multiple teams this offseason, per Pro Football Talk. The report cites the Raiders, Texans, Buccaneers and Commanders as potential landing spots. It’s unclear what the Patriots would be seeking in return for Jones, who has started every game the past two seasons when healthy.
According to Pro Football Talk, “lingering tension” remains between coach and quarterback. Jones grew frustrated with Belichick after he was forced to play under de facto offensive coordinator Matt Patricia and first-year quarterbacks coach Joe Judge last season. Neither Patricia nor Judge had offensive backgrounds prior to coaching that side of the ball.
Midseason, Jones called members of the Alabama coaching staff for help on how to run the Patriots’ new offense, per reports. Those calls infuriated Belichick. Last week at the NFL owners meetings, Belichick was asked about Jones possibly being in a competition with backup Bailey Zappe for the starting job. He said: “Well, everybody will get a chance to play. We’ll play the best player.”
Belichick’s comments about Jones over the past five months have been a stark departure from what he declared last spring and summer. In June, Belichick said: “We’ll do everything we can really, to make it as good for (Jones) as we can. He’s our quarterback. Lot of components to that.”
In July, Belichick described Jones’ offseason work by saying: “I think Mac has done a great job. He’s worked extremely hard. He’s got a tremendous work ethic in all areas. I think there’s a dramatic improvement. His physical work and conditioning, working on his mechanics, working on his footwork, working on his understanding of our offense, of opponents’ defenses, the situations — all those things.”
The day after the Patriots finished 8-9, Belichick was asked if Jones would return as the team’s starter in 2023. He replied: “I think Mac has the ability to play quarterback in this league.”
Meanwhile, Patriots owner Robert Kraft endorsed Jones as the team’s starting quarterback at the owners meetings. Kraft noted he struggled under Patricia and Judge. Patricia and Judge have both been replaced on the team’s coaching staff.
“I’m a big fan of Mac,” Kraft told reporters. “He came to us as a rookie. He quarterbacked in his rookie season and did a very fine job I thought. We made the playoffs. I think we experimented with some things last year that frankly didn’t work when it came to him, in my opinion.”