4 passable trade offers Patriots would have to accept for Mac Jones

3. Jets can replace one failed top pick with another

That's right.

Honestly, why not? This is objectively the funniest possible trade. Nothing would top it, maybe ever. It could also work out for both sides. Like, actually! It could!

We know both Mac Jones and Zach Wilson need a change of scenery Jones would get to learn at the altar of Aaron Rodgers with the New York Jets, ideally taking the QB2 sabbatical Zach Wilson was supposed to take last season. Wilson gets to duke it out with the Patriots' new rookie QB in training camp and slide comfortably into a backup QB role with a new coaching staff on a historic franchise.

Both still have talent. Wilson is the better athlete. His mobility in the pocket and arm strength are real weapons — unpolished and erratic weapons, but weapons all the same. Jones is probably more in line with what the Jets want from their backup QB. He has long been labeled as the "game manager" type, effectively reading the field and spreading the wealth, even if he's not capable of the more ambitious downfield bombs.

Jones did not live up to that label last season, falling headlong into a bevy of turnovers and boneheaded errors, but again, we saw him operate at a level in 2021 that Zach Wilson has never reached. The Jets can bank on Jones regaining his composure in a new town, while the Pats can bet on the untapped upside inherent to Wilson's athletic profile. Both are probably career backups, but for teams in need of shakeups in that very department, this trade actually makes a lot of sense.

The Patriots probably want draft capital and the chance to bring in a QB with less baggage than Wilson, but sometimes the smart GMs take swings where other teams dare not. Wilson gets a dose of the Patriots Way. Jones gets to follow Rodgers into a darkness retreat or something. Let's see what happens. It could be fun.