When the 49ers traded up to No. 3 in 2021, they had everyone convinced Mac Jones was their guy. Kyle Shanahan liked him—like, really liked him but the draft night came, and they swerved, and gambled on Trey Lance’s ceiling instead. Mac went to New England, Trey never quite stuck and bounced to Dallas, and the Niners eventually found their guy in Brock Purdy, the invincible Mr. Irrelevant. Wild twist, huh?

Well, Mac’s back in the picture now. It took him four years, but the story didn’t end in 2021 after all. And that means only one thing—this San Francisco team now has more than one starting-calibre quarterback in their arsenal. A couple of months back, Mike Florio from Pro Football Talk didn’t hold back—he flat-out said Mac Jones didn’t come to San Francisco just to hold a clipboard behind Purdy.

“I’ve heard enough about Mac Jones over the years, and I’ve seen enough from Mac Jones,” Florio stated in March. “He is not going to show up and bow down to Brock Purdy.” Back then, Niners fans didn’t think much of it—Purdy looked like a lock for an extension, so nobody batted an eye. But fast forward to now, and suddenly the team’s kicking around the idea of Jones starting in 2025.

On Sunday, the 49ers’ offensive coordinator, Klay Kubiak, made it clear that they’re looking at Mac as the starting quarterback. “Going back to college, we obviously studied Mac coming out, and we thought very highly of him and his skillset as a thrower and the things he did in college,” the OC said. Of course, back then, they picked Lance over him. But now that Mac’s with the 49ers, the Niners are feeling that Mac’s their guy. Once again!

“And then obviously, as a rookie, what he did in the NFL was very impressive. Mac’s a really good thrower,” Kubiak continued. “He stands in the pocket, he’s a strong guy, and he’s really smart. And so he’s got a lot of traits that we like for a starting quarterback.” After spending three seasons with the Patriots, Jones was traded to the Jaguars back in 2024. The guy served as a backup to the Jags’ starting QB, Trevor Lawrence.

But let’s be real—the guy struggled when Lawrence was out. In 10 games (7 starts), Jones registered eight touchdown passes, eight interceptions, and a passer rating of 80.5. However, it was enough for the Niners to gamble on the 26-year-old QB. “And his career has kind of gone up and down a little bit the past couple of years, but we saw the same things in Jacksonville that we loved about him as a college prospect, and that really excites us,” Kubiak said. “And he’s doing a great job. And I think Mac’s capable of being a starter in this league. And so he’s going to help us if he needs to.”

Well, for the time being, it’s unlikely Mac will take Brock Purdy’s place, considering the Niners are expected to offer a massive contract extension to their QB1. But if there’s one thing we’ve learned about Kyle Shanahan over the years, it’s that he and his crew have a real knack for flipping struggling QBs into legit dudes.

Remember when they signed Sam Darnold in 2023? Yeah, he didn’t get an opportunity there. But right after that went down, he had the best season of his career with the Vikings. Can Mac Jones replicate the same thing? We’ll find that out soon. But amidst all this Mac Jones’ stuff, there’s another quarterback in town, inking a deal with the 49ers.

Kyle Shanahan signs another QB amid Brock Purdy’s contract talk

Kyle Shanahan and Co. were never the ones making noises about drafting a quarterback in the 2025 NFL draft. And why would they? They had Purdy, their franchise QB, as he’s expected to sign a contract extension soon. Then there’s Mac, the former first-round pick. And last but not least, there’s Tanner Mordecai, who spent his rookie season on the Niners’ practice squad.

So when the draft night came and the Niners picked Kurtis Rourke, the Canadian QB… well, it had everyone side-eyeing them. Not because the 49ers added another quarterback to their roster. But because Rourke played the entire 2024 season with a torn ACL in his right knee. For that, he went under the knife in January this year. And get this, he was just a spectator in the entire pre-draft process, including the NFL Scouting Combine.

But fast forward to now, the 49ers have already drafted him with the 227th overall pick, and to make it more interesting, the guy just inked his four-year rookie deal. Yup, that’s where we are at. As per Over The Cap, Rourke’s four-year deal is worth around $4.33 million, which includes a signing bonus of $134,236 and also has a 2025 salary-cap hit of $873,559. His résumé?

Across five seasons (four at Ohio), the QB had 10,693 passing yards, 79 TDs. And yeah, the last season in Indiana, where he played with a torn ACL in his right knee. So with that being that, the Niners’ quarterback room is equipped with Brock Purdy, Mac Jones, Tanner Mordecai, and the rookie from Ontario, Kurtis Rourke.