One of the many reasons the San Francisco 49ers shifted to third place overall in this year’s NFL draft was their belief that the New England Patriots could shift to No. 3 and beat them. against Alabama quarterback Mac Jones, league sources told ESPN. .
San Francisco wanted to position itself to select a quarterback for the future and believed there were multiple worthy candidates. But the 49ers were also worried that the Patriots would make them jump into the draft and position themselves to select Jones before San Francisco could.
The 49ers considered the relationship well-documented between Bill Belichick and Nick Saban, and knew New England was doing chores on quarterback prospects in the draft. The Niners also believed at the time that Jones was the prospect the Patriots identified as their potential quarterback of the future.
This belief helped the Niners complete the trade in late March that sent three first-round draft picks to the Miami Dolphins to move up to No. 1 spot. this slot.
San Francisco finally decided that Trey Lance was his favorite quarterback, and Jones ended New England anyway, without the Patriots having to cede any additional compensation.
Jones will start the first season of New England against Miami on Sunday, while Lance will serve as a backup for San Francisco against Jimmy Garoppolo against the Detroit Lions.