Adam Schefter gives interesting answer when asked about a potential Mac Jones trade to Vikings

BOSTON -- The NFL trade deadline isn't usually as crazy or active as the deadlines in other leagues, and it very rarely involves starting quarterbacks joining new teams. That's with good reason, as learning a new system and building chemistry with new teammates in the middle of the grind of the NFL season can be close to impossible.

Still, with Kirk Cousins suffering a season-ending injury on Sunday, just as the Vikings got their record to .500 on the season, speculation naturally began that Minnesota could seek to add a quarterback via trade. (Jaren Hall is the only other QB on the roster, with Sean Mannion on the practice squad.)

With Mac Jones plodding through a miserable season in New England, the third-year quarterback's name has come up in those rumors. So, when NFL insider Adam Schefter appeared on The Pat McAfee Show on Monday, he was asked if such chatter involving Jones or Ryan Tannehill is worthwhile or if it's just "fodder for fantasy football folks." 

Schefter's answer was ... interesting:

I think it's more fodder. Look, here's the thing with the trade deadline. I never rule out anything. Everything's always on the table. I've been surprised before.

But I don't think the Titans are trading Ryan Tannehill today to the Minnesota Vikings, or before the deadline.

You know, Mac Jones is interesting, but then, that's New England just cashing out on its season. Because one of the reasons the Patriots haven't made a quarterback change is they just don't have another guy right now that they feel they can turn to. So if you're trading away Mac Jones in a season that's gone south anyway, OK, but that's checking out at less than the halfway mark. Which just seems a little strange to me when they like Mac Jones. And they don't have another guy.

So, again, let's say in a perfect world Minnesota wanted Mac Jones -- and this is the first I've heard of it. What do the Vikings give up for him, and what are the Patriots willing to trade him for? It just, it's hard to come up with that equation to make it work for both sides -- for any quarterback, Mac Jones or anybody.

If you blinked, you might have missed the most interesting nugget, so here it is again: "One of the reasons the Patriots haven't made a quarterback change is they just don't have another guy right now that they feel they can turn to."

Schefter did curb it a bit by saying "they like Mac Jones," but the preceding comment carried a bit more weight.

That's noteworthy coming from Schefter, because you may remember a few weeks ago, when Schefter cryptically said the Patriots' "offense isn't gonna look the same." Schefter knew something, but didn't know everything. That following weekend, Malik Cunningham was signed to the active roster and inserted into the game-day lineup as the backup quarterback to Mac Jones, with Bailey Zappe inactive as the emergency third quarterback. 

The Patriots ran some plays for Cunningham in Las Vegas with little success, and he was released (and re-signed to the practice squad) last week.

The Patriots have bounced back and forth with Zappe and Will Grier in the backup QB spot, while the team has also signed Ian Book and Matt Corral during the season, after having Trace McSorley on the roster through training camp. 

The team's actions have indicated that they haven't been happy with what they have in the backup quarterback spot. Schefter's little nugget on Monday indicated they're not particularly enthused about what they have for a starter, too.