The San Francisco 49ers played their way to the divisional round of the playoffs after notching a 12-5 regular-season record in 2025.
Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers found this success despite playing without several of their key players for large portions of the campaign. Most notably, the team played about half the season without franchise quarterback Brock Purdy — who suffered toe and shoulder injuries during San Francisco’s season opener.
With backup quarterback Mac Jones leading the way, the 49ers stayed afloat as Purdy underwent his recovery process. Jones went 5-3 as a starter, completing 69.6% of his pass attempts for 2,151 yards, 13 touchdowns and six interceptions.
Jones’ solid play earned him some serious interest on this year’s NFL trade market. But with the importance of rostering a solid backup QB option made fully apparent in 2025, it appears the 49ers will retain Jones heading into 2026.
The 49ers have no intention to trade Jones and fully expect him to return for another season as Purdy’s backup, according to ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter.
“Despite continued speculation, the 49ers have no plans to trade QB Mac Jones this off-season and fully intend to bring him back to back up Brock Purdy, per sources,” Schefter reported on Super Bowl Sunday.
Jones entered the league as the New England Patriots’ No. 15 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft. The former Alabama signal caller spent one season as Trevor Lawrence’s backup in Jacksonville in 2024 before finding his new home with the 49ers prior to their 2025 campaign.
“As any player on our team, including myself and [general manager] John [Lynch], you always listen to people and trade offers,” Shanahan said after the 49ers were eliminated by the Seattle Seahawks in the divisional round. “But we’re also not into getting rid of good players. So I’d be very surprised if Mac wasn’t around us next year.”
“It was just so fun to get, as I say, the train back on the tracks and that’s what I wanted to do,” Jones said after the conclusion of his 2025 NFL season. “[I] put a lot of good film out there. In a way, I had two seasons in one. I had a season as a starter kind of and a season as a backup. So it was really good for me. Had a lot of fun and excited for what’s next.”