The smoke around Bill Belichick’s frustrations with Mac Jones is starting to get suffocating.
The Pro Bowl quarterback, 24, is being shopped around to multiple teams by head coach Bill Belichick, Pro Football Talk reported Tuesday.
The Raiders, Texans, Buccaneers, and Commanders have been mentioned as possible trade destinations.
Tuesday’s report came a few days after Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports alleged that Jones “really pissed Bill Belichick off” when he sought help outside of the organization for New England’s offensive struggles last season.
“As we know, a disloyalty in Bill’s mind is almost worse than bad play,” Curran said Thursday during an appearance on WEEI.
“And Mac, even though you could say, well, it’s ironic, the guy’s trying to get better and he’s wondering, ‘Are we supposed to be doing it this way?’ And asking people around football about it. That effort to improve was showing up the Matt Patricia-Joe Judge contingent and Bill putting them in charge. And when Bill caught wind of it — he’s still pissed about it.”
In February, former NFL quarterback Chris Simms said Jones wound up in Belichick’s “doghouse” after he went looking for help beyond the borders of Foxborough.
Curran said Thursday he did not know who exactly Jones spoke to during the 2022 season, but added it could have been someone at his alma mater Alabama.
That includes former offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, who is currently the head coach at Texas.
Further, Belichick would not commit to Jones when speaking at the NFL owners’ meetings in Phoenix last week.
When asked if Jones and backup quarterback Bailey Zappe would be in competition for the starting job, Belichick said: “Everybody will get a chance to play. We’ll play the best player.”
The veteran coach said that was the case with every position on the team.
Curran also said former Patriots quarterback Brian Hoyer was “not sold on what was going on last year” within the offense, and that he was released by the team, due in part, to his disapproval of the coaching setup.
“Brian Hoyer was not sold on what was going on last year, and I think he let that be known — that Mac was up against it on a weekly basis,” Curran said of the veteran quarterback, who signed with the Raiders on Tuesday.
“And I think that’s a large portion of why Hoyer’s not here. The Patriots would tell you otherwise, but they’re paying him $1.4 million to not be here and not be part of the system.”
In addition to Jones and Hoyer, multiple players were allegedly unhappy with the dysfunction around the Patriots’ offense and who was calling the plays.
Judge rejoined Belichick’s staff last February as an offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach after he was fired as head coach of the Giants.
Patricia called plays as New England’s offensive coordinator — although he is listed as a senior football advisor and offensive line coach.
The quarterback controversy between Jones and Zappe last year was also an alleged point of frustration among players.
The dysfunction eventually boiled over with Jones yelling F-bombs on the field and visibly expressing anger.
After the Patriots missed the playoffs in January, Bill O’Brien was announced as the new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
The move came after a separate report from The MMQB’s Albert Breer, who alleged Patriots owner Robert Kraft expressed his unhappiness regarding the offensive staff.
At the time, a separate report by the Boston Herald said Judge had a contentious relationship with Belichick and Jones.
Judge has reportedly been reassigned, although the details are unknown — and Patricia’s future with the team remains unclear.
Jones, 24, has two years left on his rookie deal before his fifth-year option would apply.
“I think how well they’re going to be able to bury the hatchet on Mac’s perceived and presumed disloyalty in doing that [is going to be interesting to watch],” Curran said. “And does Bill O’Brien rectify that or is Bill still itching to teach the kid a lesson?”
Last week, Kraft said he’s a “big fan” of Jones.
“He came to us as a rookie,” Kraft said of the quarterback, who was selected by New England with the No. 15 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. “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.”
In the 2022 season, Jones completed 65.2 percent of his passes for 2,997 yards, 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions with an 84.8 passer rating over 14 games.
The Patriots finished 8-9 and third in the AFC East last season.
