Jones, Shanahan finally united on 49ers years after 2021 draft saga

Mac Jones to the 49ers.Just as most everyone predicted.Four years ago.Jones agreed to a two-year contract on Wednesday to come to the 49ers as a free-agent pickup and serve as Brock Purdy's backup, a league source confirmed to NBC Sports Bay Area on Wednesday.The deal is set to pay Jones $7 million with $5 million guaranteed and could be worth up to $11.5 million through incentives, NFL Media's Ian Rapoport reported.This is in stark contrast to how Jones was connected to the 49ers in the lead-up to the 2021 NFL Draft.The 49ers traded up to No. 3 overall with the stated plan of selecting their quarterback of the future.Jones was the person a lot of people in NFL circles, including one of coach Kyle Shanahan's closest friends, believed would land with the 49ers.Chris Simms, the NBC Sports NFL analyst and one of Shanahan's closest friends, was publicly confident in his belief that Jones was going to be the 49ers' selection.Then, the 49ers surprised a good share of the public with the selection of Trey Lance after Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson were chosen in the first two spots.Shanahan later confirmed that he had an affinity for Jones as he evaluated the top quarterbacks in that...