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The New England Patriots continue to clean house as ESPN reports the team intends to trade embattled quarterback Mac Jones. Pending a physical, Jones will head to the Jaguars for a sixth-round pick. In Jacksonville, he will compete to be the primary backup for fellow 2021 first-round pick Trevor Lawrence. The trade, which cannot be finalized until the new NFL year starts on Wednesday, ends a tumultuous three years in Foxboro for Jones. Despite making waves late in his college career at Alabama, many experts were surprised to see the Patriots take him 15th overall in 2021.

Jones threw for nearly 4000 yards in his rookie year before drastically declining. He failed to surpass 3000 yards in his sophomore season and was benched for Bailey Zappe after 11 games of the 2023 season. While Jones’ development was undoubtedly affected by the departure of Josh McDaniels, he also suffered from the Alabama Curse. Teams continue to seemingly overvalue Crimson Tide QBs, often putting undue pressure on players at the NFL level. The Patriots are expected to take a quarterback with the third-overall pick in this year’s draft.

Saints Extend Tyrann Mathieu

Elsewhere, the New Orleans Saints have extended Tyrann Mathieu, giving Honey Badger two more years in the Big Easy. The contract, as mentioned, is for two years and totals $13M. In 2023, Mathieu had 75 tackles (50 solo) and four interceptions. This put him joint-fifth in tackles and joint-first in interceptions on a team that finished 9-8 on the season but missed out on the playoffs due to tiebreakers. The Saints are facing the daunting task of navigating an offseason that sees them nearly $69M over the salary cap despite the historic increase of $30.6M.

Mathieu enters his third season with the Saints. He began his career in 2013 as a third-round pick for the Cardinals. However, he left Arizona for Houston in 2018 before joining Kansas City a year later. He was a major contributor to the start of the Patrick Mahomes dynasty before leaving for New Orleans in 2022. Mathieu has 775 tackles and 33 interceptions for 501 yards and 4 touchdowns across his decade-plus in the league.

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