Sports
Vikings QB Target Could Indeed Be Available via Trade
The San Francisco 49ers have insisted this offseason that they have no real interest in trading quarterback Mac Jones, but their stance may be smoke, designed to raise his trade value. The Athletic‘s Matt Barrows claimed last week that the “stars could be aligning” for a Jones trade, despite the 49ers’ public rhetoric.
A mid-round offer might be enough if the Vikings want to rekindle Sam Darnold-like magic.
If so, most assume the Minnesota Vikings would be somewhere near the top of his destination list.
The Case for Mac Jones Is Alive and Well
Don’t cancel the Mac Jones trade theories just yet.
Barrows: SF May Not Refuse Trade Offer for Jones
Barrows just isn’t quite buying that Jones is untouchable.
He wrote last week, “The 49ers have stated that they don’t intend to trade Jones, who, after all, proved extremely valuable in 2025 and has a cap cost of only $3.1 million in 2026. Still, circumstances are aligning to create an offer that might be hard to refuse.”
“The first is that Jones didn’t just look like a starter in 2025 but someone who could lead an imperfect team, which is what any potential suitor would be. The win at the Rams — on a short week and in prime time — came at the height of the 49ers’ injury woes. They played without George Kittle, Brandon Aiyuk, Ricky Pearsall and Jauan Jennings, and with Jones battling through a PCL injury. The second reason to trade for Jones is that the league just watched another Shanahan reclamation project, Sam Darnold, thrive on the national stage.”
Jones has already stated this offseason that he believes he’s a starter in the NFL — not a QB2.
Barrows added, “Darnold, who signed a one-year deal with San Francisco in 2023, served as Brock Purdy’s backup that season. The following season, he led the Minnesota Vikings, who run a similar offensive system, to a 14-win season.”
“In 2025, he signed with the Seattle Seahawks and last week stood before the city with the Lombardi Trophy in his right hand, a beer can in his left and a wide grin on his face.”
Redoing the Sam Darnold Arrangement
In 2024, Minnesota signed Darnold as a “bridge” quarterback for McCarthy, and all he did was deliver 35 passing touchdowns and 4,319 passing yards. Seeking a big payday and guaranteed starting job, Darnold chose the Seahawks in 2025 free agency, leaving the Vikings to sink or swim with McCarthy.
Minnesota sank, at least in terms of missing the postseason, while Darnold won the Super Bowl. What a world.
In Jones, Vikings head coach and de facto CEO Kevin O’Connell would have a chance at a do-over. The 49ers groomed Darnold for a year in 2023; they did the same for Jones in 2025.
If O’Connell wants to rewrite history, he can finagle the Jones trade with San Francisco and restart the clock on his Darnold experiment — but with a different former 1st-Rounder in Jones.
2025 Rankings and Stats
These were the NFL’s top quarterbacks in 2025 per EPA+CPOE:
- Drake Maye
- Brock Purdy
- Jordan Love
- Josh Allen
- Matthew Stafford
- Sam Darnold
- Daniel Jones
- Dak Prescott
- Mac Jones
- Patrick Mahomes
The odds of Jones arriving in Minnesota and playing poorly like his earlier days are low. If Darnold could thrive in Minnesota, so can Jones — or so goes the theory.
The 49ers also compiled a 5-3 record on Jones’s watch in 2025, as he delivered 269 passing yards per game with 13 touchdowns in 8 starts. The numbers would translate to a fringe MVP season if scaled to 17 games.
The Trade Price
This is the tricky part. San Francisco’s brass is already working diligently to drive up Jones’s trade price. Two offseasons ago, Darnold was “free” in free agency. Jones won’t be that way. At the very minimum, Vikings interim general manager Rob Brzezinski will have to send a 3rd-Rounder to The Bay for Jones. Truth be told, the price will likely be steeper than that, perhaps in the neighborhood of a 2nd-Rounder.
O’Connell and Brzezinski must ask themselves if the price tag is worth it. Minnesota has suffered from four underwhelming drafts in a row. They can’t easily donate high-round picks and feel great about it.
If Jones can be a years-long starter, the price will be worth it. If he’s more of a flyer, the club might be better off rolling with McCarthy, signing Malik Willis from free agency, or exploring Kyler Murray’s availability.
Jones will turn 28 just before Week 1 of 2026; there’s plenty of time for a team to christen him as the long-term QB1 and ask him to hold down the fort for a decade, akin to Darnold’s current trajectory.
