What trade market lurks for 49ers’ backup quarterback Mac Jones?

Mac Jones could be the 49ers’ best trade asset in years, should they choose to part with Brock Purdy’s backup whose efficient play and uplifting spirit bailed them out early last season.

Six years ago, the 49ers went to the scouting combine and shopped All-Pro defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, who would fetch a first-round pick from the Indianapolis Colts.

Jones likely won’t command a first-round pick, or perhaps even a second-rounder. Supply and demand will dictate his value on the quarterback market, one that’s lacking premier free agents and hot-shot draft candidates.

This week’s scouting combine in Indianapolis should at least start signaling Jones’ path.

The 49ers certainly could and perhaps should retain Jones, who signed a two-year contract last spring and will cost only $3 million against this coming season’s salary cap.

Free agency negotiations can open March 9, and perhaps by then there’ll be clarity which veterans are salary-cap casualties. Two months remain until former Cal and Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza presumably goes No. 1 overall to the Las Vegas Raiders.

Jones, 28, undoubtedly pumped up his stock the past year. On the field, he went 5-3 as a starter while Purdy battled turf toe, and Jones overcame a knee injury to post a career-best 69.6 completion percentage with 13 touchdown passes against six interceptions. Overall, his upbeat vibe quickly won over teammates as he rediscovered a joy for football that dissipated since his 2021 rookie season with the New England Patriots.

WHAT THEY’VE SAID

Coach Kyle Shanahan (Jan. 21): “As (with) any player on our team, including myself and John (Lynch), you always listen to people and trade offers, but we’re also not into getting rid of good players. So, I’d be very surprised if Mac wasn’t around us next year.”

General manager John Lynch (Jan. 21): “I can’t say enough about Mac, not only his play, his leadership. I call it leadership. Do you make people around you better? And I think Mac did that all season. And so, he’s been an outstanding addition. Like Kyle said, you always listen, but I know we’re a better football team with Mac Jones on our roster.”

Jones (Jan. 19) on if he might not get traded: “Yeah, I mean, that’s why I came here, knowing that I wanted to be around, Kyle, knowing it’s such a great system and a good fit for me.I know that’s part of it. For me the challenge is to keep getting better this offseason, and whatever happens, happens and I love the guys here, that’d be fun.”

NFL COMPARISONS

Last year, the Raiders sent a third-round draft pick to the Seattle Seahawks for quarterback Geno Smith, who then received a two-year, $75 million extension through 2027.

A third-rounder is what the Atlanta Falcons got in return for Matt Ryan as he went to finish his career with the Colts in 2022.

That same year, the ultimate outlier came with the Cleveland Browns coughing up a fortune (including three first-rounders among seven picks) for Deshaun Watson’s exit from Houston.

Also in 2022, Russell Wilson cost the Denver Broncos two firsts, two seconds and a player; Sam Darnold’s transfer from the Jets to the Panthers elicited three picks (second, fourth and sixth rounders); and, Baker Mayfield fetched a fourth-round, conditional pick for Cleveland’s deal with Carolina.

Carson Wentz bounced from Philadelphia to Indianapolis in 2021 (conditional first- and third-round picks), then to Washington in 2022 (second, two thirds).

WHO’S IN THE GAME

Several quarterbacks will be available trade before free agency, and several teams are in dire need.

Those teams and what draft picks they have through the first three rounds:

New York Jets (Round 1, 1, 2, 2)

Cleveland (1, 1, 2, 3)

Miami (1, 2, 3, 3, 3)

Pittsburgh (1, 2, 3, 3, 3)

Minnesota (1, 2, 3, 3)

Las Vegas (1, 2, 3)

Arizona (1, 2, 3)

Indianapolis (2, 3)

Quarterbacks who might be options: Kirk Cousins (Falcons), Kyler Murray (Cardinals), Tua Tagovailoa (Dolphins), Aaron Rodgers (Steelers), Daniel Jones (Colts), Anthony Richardson (Colts), Malik Willis (Packers), Derek Carr (Saints; retired).

49ERS QUARTERBACK TRADES

The 49ers’ rich lore of quarterbacks includes a bevy of trades, most famously the 1987 one that brought in Steve Young to set up a Hall of Fame succession line with Joe Montana.

Montana netted the 49ers a first-round pick (and safety David Whitmore) in his 1993 deal to Kansas City. The next-greatest haul the 49ers got for a quarterback: Alex Smith to the Chiefs for second-round picks in 2013 and ’14.

If the 49ers deem Jones expendable, the backup spot could go to 2025 rookie redshirt Kurtis Rourke, practice-squad prospect Adrian Martinez, or a potential reclamation project similar to Jones (2025) and Sam Darnold (2023).

Here are other quarterbacks traded away by the 49ers prior to Smith:

Shaun Hill, 2010: Detroit, 2011 seventh-round pick

Ken Dorsey, 2006: Cleveland, 2007 seventh-round pick and Trent Dilfer

Cody Pickett, 2006: Houston, 2007 conditional pick

Tim Rattay, 2005: Tampa Bay, for 2006 sixth-round pick

Jim Druckenmiller, 1999: Miami, for 2000 seventh-round and 2001 seventh-round picks

Ty Detmer, 1999: Cleveland, with fourth-round pick for fourth- and fifth-round picks

Steve Bono, 1994: Kansas City, for fifth-round draft pick

Montana, 1993: Kansas City, first-round pick and safety David Whitmore

Steve DeBerg, 1981: Denver, for 1983 fourth-round draft pick

Tom Owens, 1976: New England, with two 1976 first-round picks and 1977 first- and second-round picks for Jim Plunkett.

Y.A. Tittle, 1961: New York Giants, for Lou Cordileone

* * *

WHO THIS REGIME HAS TRADED

Players traded by the 49ers since 2017, when Shanahan and Lynch arrived:

WR Deebo Samuel, 2025: Washington, fifth-round pick

QB Trey Lance, 2023: Dallas, fourth-round pick

RB Jeff Wilson Jr., 2021: Miami, fifth-round pick

LB Jonas Griffith, 2021: Denver, with seventh-round pick for 2022 sixth- and 2023 seventh-round picks

LB Kwon Alexander, 2020: New Orleans, for Kiko Alonso and 2021 fifth-round pick

WR Marquise Goodwin, 2020: Philadelphia, with 2020 sixth- and 2021 seventh-rounder for 2020 sixth-rounder; trade nixed because Goodwin opted out of 2020 COVID-impacted season.

RB Matt Breida, 2020: Miami, for fifth-rounder

DT DeForest Buckner, 2020: Indianapolis, for first-rounder.

LB Dekoda Watson, 2019: Denver, with sixth-round pick for fifth-rounder.

LB Eli Harold, 2018: Detroit, for seventh-round pick

OT Trent Brown, 2018: New England, with fifth-round pick for third-rounder.

C Daniel Kilgore, 2018: Miami, with seventh-round pick for seventh-round pick.

CB Rashard Richardson, 2017: New York Jets, fifth-round pick

TE Vance McDonald, 2017: Pittsburgh, with 2018 fifth-round pick for 2018 fourth-rounder.