What’s a great gift for a backup quarterback who prevented a season from spiraling? The San Francisco 49ers settled on cash.
The 49ers have rewarded Mac Jones for last season’s stellar fill-in work by giving him a $300,000 roster bonus, according to multiple reports. Jones, 27, who signed a two-year, $7 million contract in 2025, will now earn $3.55 million this season and could pocket $5.8 million if he reaches all his incentives.
In other words: He’s still a bargain.
Before his modest bonus, Jones’ average annual salary ($3.5 million) ranked 45th among QBs after a season in which he went 5-3 as a starter and ranked second in the NFL completion percentage (69.6%) while throwing for 2,151 yards with 13 touchdowns and six interceptions (97.4 passer rating). The 49ers went 12-5 last season and reached the divisional playoffs.
The 49ers were open to trading Jones before last month’s draft, but not unless they received strong compensation for the 2021 first-round pick. Such an offer never materialized. On April 23, after the first round, head coach Kyle Shanahan sounded disappointed about the lack of trade interest in Jones.
“That kind of blew my mind,” Shanahan said on KNBR. “Definitely someone I would be sick (about) if we lost. But we also understand how good of a quarterback he is. So it definitely surprised me a lot. I know what I would have done. But not everyone did that. So good for us that we still get to hold on to a really good quarterback.”
Jones remains the 49ers’ No. 2 behind Brock Purdy after providing strong evidence he could be a starter, a title he eventually lost after a debut season in which he finished second in the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year voting.
In 2025, in his last start, Jones became the third QB in franchise history to complete 30-plus passes with a completion percentage of at least 80%, joining Steve Young and Jeff Garcia. In his penultimate start, Jones had a season-best passer rating (135.2) and joined Young and Joe Montana as the only QBs in franchise history to complete at least 14 consecutive passes to start a game.
In January, Jones hinted he’d welcome a trade to a team that viewed him as a first-stringer.
“I’m on a two-year deal,” Jones said. “But I do believe I’m a starter in this league. And I’m excited to continue to get better this offseason and see what happens.”
The 49ers are unlikely to deal Jones before the trade deadline on Nov. 17 after not using one of their eight picks on the position in the draft. Their third-string QB, Kurtis Rourke, is a 2025 seventh-round pick who spent his rookie season on the non-football injury list due to a knee injury he suffered in college.
Jones is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in March, when he figures to earn a raise that will dwarf his $300,000 thank-you gift.