I didn’t think this was possible before, but now it seems almost a certainty. Apparently, the Patriots and Bill Belichick have been shopping QB Mac Jones around to various NFL teams as the QB’s relationship with Belichick is seemingly on its last leg.
Is this really how Mac Jones’ Patriots career will fizzle out?
Despite being selected with the 16th overall pick by the Patriots in the 2020 NFL draft as the heir-apparent to Tom Brady, Mac Jones has supposedly been actively shipped around by the Pats and Bill Belichick to various teams, such as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Houston Texans, Washington Commanders, etc., as the relationship between Belichick and Jones has completely deteriorated.
So, in other words, the Patriots circus is moving on to another act.
I honestly can’t believe how chaotic the Patriots have been these past two years as not only have they fallen out of the playoff race (they’ve missed the playoffs twice in the last three seasons), but they now are suffering from highly publicized internal bickering, turmoil, and braindead personnel choices that have turned the franchise into the laughingstock all Patriots fans once mocked from others.
This sort of confusion and conflict was what derailed the AFC East teams for so many years as the Patriots rose to the top and cemented the single greatest dynasty in NFL history, yet now it has taken a stranglehold over the Pats’ throat. I know the saying “what comes around, goes around” was created for a reason, but I really didn’t expect the Patriots to peter out so meekly after Brady left.
Owner Robert Kraft and HC Bill Belichick, the two other triumvirates (Brady was the third) of the Patriots Way have still stuck around the franchise, yet they seem to be directly involved in all of this offseason nonsense. Especially Belichick.
The whole reason why Mac Jones, who was a Pro Bowl caliber QB his rookie season, is on the verge of being shipped out of New England is due to Jones reaching out to his former Alabama coaches for offensive help and tips during the disastrous 2022-23 season (which saw him post a meager 2,997 passing yards, 14 TDs, and 11 INTs), which somehow hurt Belichick’s feelings. Yeah, that’s it.
Now, I sort of understand Belichick not wanting Jones reaching out to coaches outside the Patriots orbit for discussions about play calling/offense, but the reason why Jones was forced to take such an action was because of Belichick!
Belichick was the one who hired Dumb and Dumber (Joe Judge and Matt Patricia) to be Jones’ offensive coaches, even though neither one of them had any prior offensive experience, which was the only reason the Patriots offense turned into the 32nd worst redzone scoring unit, the 12th worst passing offense, and the 8th worst First Down efficient offense (aka: not picking up First Downs).
I was also highly critical of Mac Jones last season as I felt he wasn’t living up to his draft status and reputation from last season, but for Belichick to get so offended to the point of actively trying to trade away a player that showed the initiative to get better is worryingly vindictive. Sure, Jones had a poor season last year, but him going above and beyond in a somewhat sneaky manner to get better is not enough to throw in the towel on him. Right?
In fact, if Belichick wants to punish last season’s failures on someone, he should look in the mirror. He hired two buffoons to run the offense, religiously stuck by them when said offense went sideways, and then isolated and fractured the relationship with the team’s franchise QB because he tried getting better. If anyone should be fired for not performing last year, it should be Bill Belichick!
I hope Mac Jones doesn’t get shipped out for a bag of peanuts, which would be a classic Belichick trade special, as he still has the potential to develop into a decent starting QB in this league…if not a superstar QB. Though, that may have to be under a different head coach…
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