The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reports teams calling on 49ers QB Mac Jones have described the asking price as “astronomical.”

10 March 2026

The idea of Mac Jones starting somewhere in 2026 had a lot of gas in late January and February, but it has crashed in March as teams have been reluctant to meet San Francisco’s asking price. We’re not entirely sure why the 49ers would rather keep Jones as a backup than have, say, a third-round pick. Especially when they manufactured Jones’ value all on their own this past year after he was not exactly a first-wave free-agent signing in 2025. They could simply do that again with a different quarterback. But they seem to be anchored on keeping Jones.