Kurtis Rourke’s stellar 49ers debut could open door to Mac Jones trade

Kurtis Rourke’s dazzling NFL debut last week increased the odds that the San Francisco 49ers will trade backup quarterback Mac Jones before the league’s Nov. 10 deadline.

To be clear: That’s an opinion, not a sourced fact. And one important caveat: In-season quarterback trades are rare. There have been only six since 2015.

With that out of the way, let’s connect a few dots after Rourke, the 49ers’ third-string quarterback, was a revelation in last week’s preseason opener.

For starters, the 49ers were already open to trading Jones this offseason. Jones is perhaps the NFL’s best No. 2 quarterback, but no team met the 49ers’ asking price — reportedly at least a second-round pick — and head coach Kyle Shanahan sounded disappointed in April after the first round of the NFL draft passed without anyone making a serious play for him.

“That kind of blew my mind,” Shanahan said on KNBR. “I know what I would have done.”

The 49ers had no reason to sell low. Jones, a 2021 first-round pick, made nine starts in place of Brock Purdy last season and ranked second in the NFL in completion percentage. And the 49ers didn’t have an obvious replacement behind him. Their other quarterbacks were unproven: Adrian Martinez and Rourke, a 2025 seventh-round pick who spent his rookie season recovering from a torn ACL he suffered at Indiana.

But then Rourke made his debut. He played with the 49ers’ backups, faced much of the Titans’ first-string defense and completed 12 of 14 passes for 101 yards. In his first game action in 601 days, he looked fully in command.

“I thought he was excellent in all those areas,” offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak said when asked how Rourke received play calls and got the offense to the line of scrimmage, “especially it being his first real competitive football game in almost two years. He did a great job of handling the huddle, the emotions of it. The operation was really clean.

“Then on top of that, I thought he executed really well. I’m really pleased with how he played. … He was prepared and he was ready for the moment, and I thought his play showed that.”

The reaction to Rourke’s performance was telling. First-year players rarely receive effusive praise from coaches. Shanahan and Kubiak nitpicked rookie wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling’s impressive first game. Not so with Rourke, who also wowed his teammates.

Tight end George Kittle’s review?

“Fantastic,” Kittle said. “Wow. I was like, ‘Wait a second, this guy hasn’t played football in two years. He didn’t do anything last year.’ … And he just looked so fluid out there. He looked great. Controlled the offense.”

The 49ers were bullish on Rourke long before last week. Last year, Shanahan said Rourke would have been drafted “a lot higher” if he had been healthy.

In 2024, his lone season at Indiana, Rourke played with a bulky brace protecting his damaged right knee and completed 69.4% of his passes for 3,042 yards with 29 touchdowns and five interceptions.

The Hoosiers, who had gone 9-27 in the three seasons before his arrival, finished 11-2. Rourke, 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, earned the fourth-highest passing grade from Pro Football Focus at 90.2. He trailed first-round picks Cam Ward and Jaxson Dart and fifth-round pick Shedeur Sanders.

“We saw a guy who was an NFL thrower,” Kubiak said Sunday. “Who was very bright. Who had the right size and who had the chance to be a player. So, yeah, we still think he is.”

Rourke isn’t there yet, of course. His professional résumé consists of 26 preseason snaps. Then there is his medical history: He tore the ACL in his right knee twice in college and hasn’t returned to practice since leaving last week’s game early because of a rib injury that Kubiak said wasn’t serious.

Still, Rourke’s promise, coupled with Jones’ contract status, could make the 49ers more motivated to deal Jones during the season than they were in the offseason. Jones is in the final year of his contract, and the 49ers could net a high-end 2027 draft pick for a player who is almost certain to sign elsewhere in free agency in March.

Why would another team suddenly pony up for Jones during the season after declining to do so in the offseason? Quarterback injuries are inevitable, and the 49ers could become the logical call for a team desperate to stay afloat without its starter.

Last season, Arizona’s Kyler Murray missed 12 starts because of a severe foot sprain. Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow underwent toe surgery and missed nine starts. Purdy missed eight starts with turf toe. Atlanta’s Michael Penix Jr. suffered a partially torn left ACL, Indianapolis’ Daniel Jones tore his right Achilles, Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL and Washington’s Jayden Daniels dislocated his elbow.

The Bengals traded for Joe Flacco in October after Burrow was sidelined. Such in-season deals are rare partly because quarterbacks need time to learn an unfamiliar offense.

That learning curve is one reason Jones could appeal to a needy team. He is a quick study.

In his first season with the 49ers, Jones impressed teammates and coaches with his ability to absorb Shanahan’s complex system. In Week 2, he made his first start — on the road — and threw for 279 yards and three touchdowns to lead the 49ers to a 26-21 win against the Saints.

Jones’ contract also would be attractive to an acquiring team. His 2026 cap charge: $3.13 million.

Jones’ production, intelligence and affordability explain why Shanahan seemed miffed in April when no team aggressively pursued him or met the 49ers’ asking price.

“Good for us,” Shanahan said, “that we still get to hold on to a really good quarterback.”

Rourke has given the 49ers something they didn’t have in April: reason to believe they can trade one really good quarterback and still have another behind Purdy.