Mac Jones will start at quarterback for Jacksonville in the Jaguars’ season finale on Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts. After that, his football future is unknown.
“That’s always the million-dollar question for everybody,” Jones said on Wednesday. “You’re either under contract or you’re not. For me, it’s eliminating the distractions and taking it one day at a time, one play at a time, and it’ll take care of itself. I’ve had a lot of fun here.”
That doesn’t mean Jones wants to return to his hometown team for the 2025 season.
Jones is playing because Trevor Lawrence suffered a season-ending injury. Lawrence is working on a five-year, $275 million contract and will return to the starting lineup for Jacksonville next season.
Jones has arrived at the end of his rookie contract, a four-year $15.586 million deal signed after the New England Patriots selected him from Alabama at No. 15 in the 2021 NFL Draft.
“I know he would probably want that in his future – to take over a team again and be the guy,” Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said on Wednesday. “That’s what he was drafted to do. … Hopefully, he’s given an opportunity. See what happens over the course of, obviously, the next several months. But he’s done some good things, and I think if teams are evaluating the quarterback position, he’s definitely one that you would have to consider.”
After starting the first 43 games of his NFL career for the Patriots, Jones completed his third season with New England on the bench for the final six games. The Patriots traded Jones to Jacksonville in March.
Geno Smith with the Seattle Seahawks in 2022, Baker Mayfield with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2023 and Sam Darnold with the Minnesota Vikings in 2024 provide examples of former starting quarterbacks who were washed out, then returned to starting roles with other teams. But if Jones’ five-game finish for Jacksonville is an audition for his next chance as a starter, which teams is he auditioning for?
Even though 11 of the NFL’s 32 teams have at least 10 losses entering the final weekend of the regular season, there may be only around six teams looking to change starting quarterbacks this offseason.
“The chips will fall how they fall,” Jones said. “I have confidence in myself.”
