The San Francisco 49ers just reworked Mac Jones' contract. He'll now get a $300,000 roster bonus, driving his total compensation to $3.55 million for the final year of his contract. On top of that, he can earn another $2.25 million in incentives.
Earlier in the offseason, analysts and fans tied Jones to the Cleveland Browns as a potential alternative at quarterback. The 49ers were adamant about keeping him in town, and there never seemed to be much real traction.
According to 49ers insider Matt Maiocco, it's hard to blame the Browns for that. Apparently, no one in the league was willing to meet San Francisco's asking price for a player who might be more of a byproduct of Kyle Shanahan's system.
“In talking to people around the league, the reason I think there wasn’t the trade market a lot of people expected for Mac Jones this offseason is because there’s a belief he was successful because of being in Kyle Shanahan’s system and because of Kyle Shanahan’s play-calling and everything else,” Maiocco said.
The Browns may not have been interested in Mac Jones after all
We've seen multiple quarterbacks struggle early in their careers, only to break out once they enter the right environment. It recently happened for Sam Darnold, who went from consensus draft bust to Super Bowl champion.
It makes perfect sense that the Browns had doubts about giving up valuable draft capital in a potential trade for Mac Jones. As much faith as they may have in Todd Monken, he's still an unproven head coach, and there's no telling how well he'll be able to develop quarterbacks, especially a veteran like Jones who's currently on his third NFL team.
There were just too many moving pieces in the Browns' offense this offseason. They needed every asset they had to rebuild that side of the ball. Ultimately, general manager Andrew Berry scored a great haul in the first two rounds of the 2026 NFL Draft, so passing on a trade for Jones might prove to be the right approach.
Ultimately, the 49ers are simply taking care of a player who helped them weather the storm and keep the ship afloat while Brock Purdy was injured in 2025. That's definitely a classy move, but it's also the ultimate admission that no one truly wants to pry Jones from the Bay Area and make him a starter. It was most likely all media and fan hype.
At the end of the day, the 49ers won't move on from Purdy to give Jones the keys to the offense. That alone speaks volumes about how they truly feel about him. He's a backup, and while he might be one of the best in the game, that's pretty much his ceiling.
Through that lens, the Browns dodged a big bullet.
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