What trading Mac Jones means for the Patriots

New England traded Jones to Jacksonville.

The New England Patriots struck their first trade of the offseason on Sunday as they dealt quarterback Mac Jones to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Here’s what moving on from their former first-round pick means for New England from a big-picture point of view.

QB room remodel

After a year of poor quarterback play, New England’s QB room was set to undergo significant changes this offseason. The Jones trade should just be the first step.

New England is expected to add a veteran quarterback in free agency this upcoming week before all attention turns to the NFL Draft. Holding the No. 3 overall pick, many believe the team will select one of the top-ranked quarterbacks — UNC’s Drake Maye or LSU’s Jayden Daniels serving as the likeliest options.

Now without Jones, the Patriots QB room currently includes just Bailey Zappe and Nathan Rourke. Time will tell if New England sees either of them in their future plans.

Added draft capital

Despite multiple teams reportedly having interest in Jones, there was not major competition to land the 25-year old. As a result, the Jaguars are set to send New England their higher sixth-round selection — No. 192 — in the upcoming draft.

As for the Patriots, they will now have eight overall selections — one pick in each round with an additional sixth-rounder.

Cap implications

Jones was entering the final year of his rookie contract which carried a salary slightly north of $2.78 million. The trade will create over $1.87 million in salary cap space for the Patriots.

Entering the legal tampering period on Monday, New England will now have over $82 million in cap space available to them, according to salary cap expert Miguel Benzan.

Lesson learned

Mac Jones’ NFL ceiling was always going to be limited due to his physical abilities. But, New England’s failure to build a competent offensive roster around a quarterback on a rookie contract should be a lesson learned the hard way — especially as they seem set to plug another rookie quarterback into the mix.

With a new regime leading the charge this time however, early indications seem that they are ready to learn from their past mistakes.

“The main thing is just trying to do everything we can to support that person once they get in the building,” Eliot Wolf said at the NFL Combine. “We’re going to make the best decision we can in terms of who that person is – if we decide to go quarterback at 3. Really just putting every resource and everything we have into that person to support them and make sure they’re the best version of themself.”