If the phones at the San Francisco 49ers Santa Clara headquarters weren’t already ringing Monday morning, they almost certainly will be before the week is out.

The Baltimore Ravens left Buffalo on Sunday night with a 36-10 loss, a third straight defeat that dropped them to 4-4, and a quarterback room that has gone from thin to dire in the span of one afternoon.

That puts San Francisco and its backup, Mac Jones, squarely in the middle of the most interesting conversation of trade deadline week.

The cruelty of Sunday was in the timing. Lamar Jackson had just come back from a high ankle sprain that cost him three games, and his return was supposed to steady an offense that had sputtered without him.

Instead, the two-time MVP hit his throwing hand on Greg Rousseau’s wrist on Baltimore’s very first offensive snap, dislocating his right thumb.

Jackson is headed for surgery and injured reserve, and when head coach Jesse Minter was asked whether the injury could end his season, his answer was a sobering “potentially.”

Tyler Huntley, the veteran backup who had carried the offense during Jackson’s ankle absence, left the same game with what’s believed to be turf toe, leaving undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano to finish the blowout on an injured foot of his own.

With a Thursday night home game against Jacksonville on deck, Baltimore has almost no time to sort through options, and the AFC North race won’t wait for them to get healthy.

That’s where San Francisco comes in. Jones has built a strong case as the best QB2 in football, and his 2025 season is the reason why.

Filling in for an injured Brock Purdy, the former first-round pick went 5-3 in eight starts and completed 69.6% of his passes for 2,151 yards, 13 touchdowns, and six interceptions across 11 appearances, setting career highs in completion rate, yards per attempt, and passer rating while running Kyle Shanahan’s offense with a poise that rarely surfaced during his New England days.

For a Ravens team that still believes it can tread water until Jackson returns, Jones offers a proven, low-cost bridge.

He’s playing on a 2026 base salary of roughly $3.55 million in the final year of his deal, so taking him on wouldn’t strain Baltimore’s cap, and he’d give the offense a starter who can actually win games rather than just survive them.

The 49ers, however, have never been in a hurry to move him. They reportedly wanted a first-round pick this spring, and rival teams called the asking price “astronomical.”

Shanahan has said flatly that the organization isn’t in the business of giving away good players, and with Purdy’s injury history still fresh in everyone’s mind, Jones remains a valuable insurance policy for a contender.

Jones is headed for unrestricted free agency in March; the Eagles could be another motivated bidder after losing Jalen Hurts, and a desperate Baltimore front office may be willing to pay more than anyone did in April. If the Ravens come with the right offer, John Lynch will at least have to listen.