NFL Trade Rumors: Patriots want Mac Jones out of New England after reports of Bill Belichick being ‘pissed’

Mac Jones, the New England Patriots' first-round selection in 2021, could be on his way out. Reports have surfaced that coach Bill Belichick was upset with his quarterback's behavior last season and has decided to shop Jones around.

The quarterback market is relatively thin right now, so many teams may be interested in trying to trade for Jones. With the draft coming up, though, teams may want to wait until they see who they can get first. Nevertheless, that hasn't stopped the Patriots from allegedly seeing if there's interest in Jones.

After NBC Sports Boston's Tom E. Curran reported that Belichick was "pissed off" at Jones for going outside the organization for advice on how to run his offense, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio explained that several teams could be interested in the quarterback.

"Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Belichick has shopped Jones to multiple teams during the 2023 offseason. The full list of potential destinations isn’t known.

"The teams mentioned as potential destinations were the Raiders, Texans, Buccaneers, and Commanders. Obviously, a trade hasn’t occurred yet. That doesn’t mean it won’t happen. A team hoping to draft a quarterback could pivot to Jones, if that team doesn’t get the guy it wants."

Owner Robert Kraft, however, seems to be fine with Mac Jones.

“I’m a big fan of Mac," he told reporters. "He came to us as a rookie. He quarterbacked in his rookie season and did a very fine job I thought. We made the playoffs. I think we experimented with some things last year that frankly didn’t work when it came to him, in my opinion.”

This will be an interesting situation to monitor across the NFL.

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Why is Bill Belichick mad at Mac Jones?

Patriots insider Tom E. Curran gave the scoop, explaining that Belichick was frustrated with Jones for his antics last season. He was also ticked off by the fact that Jones sought outside help.

"Just what’s left over from Bill being agitated at Mac for, more than anything else – the yelling and the gesticulations during the games was irritating enough.

"But Chriss Simms alluded to this, and I heard it reaffirmed today. Going outside the building for counsel as to ‘Is this the way we’re supposed to be doing this?’ That really pissed Bill off. As we know, a betrayal, a disloyalty in Bill’s mind is almost worse than bad play."

Is Mac Jones going to be traded?

Mac Jones wasn't exactly put in the best possible position to succeed last year. He had Matt Patricia and Joe Judge calling plays, with Belichick eventually snaring Bill O'Brien as offensive coordinator for 2023.

The hope is that O'Brien's familiarity with Jones would turn around the Patriots' fortunes in the upcoming season, especially with the addition of JuJu Smith-Schuster, who was signed in free agency. Smith-Schuster spent the previous year in Patrick Mahomes' offense, going home with a Super Bowl ring.

The Patriots have also been linked with a move for Cardinals star DeAndre Hopkins.