The New England Patriots haven’t said they are moving on from Mac Jones at quarterback, but the general feeling is that the Patriots will be going in a different direction next season.
Even though Bill Belichick is no longer in tow, “The Patriot Way” still seems to be functioning in full force, as director of scouting Eliot Wolf sidestepped a question about Jones and Bailey Zappe at the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday.
“I’d say there’s a lot of options on the table,” Wolf said, via Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. “I’m glad you asked about Mac and Bailey — we’re not going to be a program that’s talking about these guys in terms of through the media. We’re going to do what’s best for the team behind the scenes and the strategy of that is going to be myself, [head coach] Jerod Mayo, [director of player personnel] Matt Groh. And we’re going to do the right thing for the team.”
Jones began the 2023 campaign as New England’s starting signal-caller but was benched in favor of Zappe midway through the season.
Neither player produced inspiring results, which leaves the Pats in limbo heading into the offseason.
The Patriots own the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s draft, meaning they probably won’t have a chance of taking either of the top two quarterback prospects in Caleb Williams or Drake Maye unless they trade up. They could always trade down and take Jayden Daniels (who may still be available a few picks further down), or they can sign a free agent or make a trade.
Options do exist for New England, but things are a bit more complicated for the Pats than the Chicago Bears and Washington Commanders, who lay claim to the top two picks in the draft in April.
It would certainly be surprising to see the Patriots roll into 2024 with Jones under center, so even with Wolf trying to play coy, everyone basically knows that New England will be making a change at the position.
But how the Pats go about that change is what everyone is waiting to see.
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