49ers' Mac Jones trade update explains an obvious problem

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The San Francisco 49ers certainly aren't in a rush to trade Mac Jones.

He's about as good a backup QB as a team could have, and starter Brock Purdy has proven that he can get injured, so Jones is a pivotal piece for the 'Niners.

Entering the final year of his contract, though, Jones could also be a trade candidate in the right circumstance.

"You can see why teams would be interested, but the 49ers have told anyone who has asked this offseason that they value him and aren't trading him," ESPN's Dan Graziano wrote in a new article on Thursday.

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What could cause the 49ers to change their minds and trade Jones? An overpay.

And what's going to make a team overpay for another QB right before or even during the season? An injury.

That's the problem with any plans the 49ers lay out for trading, or not trading, Jones. There's really no market for a top-end backup until a starter goes down.

"In order for Jones to be moved, a contender would need a significant enough injury at the quarterback position to convince them to overpay the Niners to let him go," Graziano writes. "If something happened to, say, Justin Herbert with the Chargers or to Joe Burrow in Cincinnati, or if none of the Vikings' options work out, those are all examples of places where Jones could conceivably step right in and help their Kyle Shanahan-inspired offenses. There's no way to know when or whether those types of teams would have that type of need."

Even in that circumstance, the 49ers have no way of knowing whether something could happen to Purdy the week after they deal Jones.

Getting creative in the trade market with backup QBs isn't a straightforward thing. That might be what keeps Jones in San Francisco all season.