Mac Jones Trade Deadline Rumors: the Vikings Need a Quarterback, but the 49ers Want a Huge Offer

"Mac jones trade deadline rumors" sat at No. 1 on the U.S. Google Trends list read on Tuesday morning, and the clock behind the search is real: the NFL trade deadline closes today at 4 p.m. ET, 3 p.m. Central.

The talk sharpened on Monday night, when Minnesota's 23-6 loss to Buffalo dropped the Vikings to 6-2 behind a struggling Carson Wentz. San Francisco 49ers reporter Grant Cohn argued in a Nov. 9 video that "the Vikings need to call up John Lynch right now and trade for Mac Jones," Heavy reported. Niners Wire, part of USA TODAY, argued the other side of the same deal: that San Francisco cannot trade Jones to a direct NFC rival for anything less than a "Godfather offer" of multiple high picks.

San Francisco's price has been the story all week. NFL insider Tom Pelissero reported on Saturday that the 49ers "wouldn't move backup QB Mac Jones for anything less than a huge offer," according to Heavy, and general manager John Lynch said the same on KNBR: "We'd have to be really motivated to move Mac." The Athletic has reported the price might run to a second-round pick and more. Jones has not thrown a pass this season with Brock Purdy healthy, is in the final year of his contract at $3.55 million, and kept the 49ers afloat during Purdy's eight-game absence a season ago — the résumé that makes him both valuable and expensive.

Minnesota is not the only name in the file: The Athletic named Philadelphia a landing spot on its trade-deadline big board, and Amazon's James Palmer has reported the Vikings are open to adding a quarterback. As of Tuesday morning, no deal involving Jones had been reported by any of the outlets read this cycle. This desk is treating the rumors as exactly that; if a trade lands before the 3 p.m. Central deadline, the result files in today's later cycles.