The Patriots are trading quarterback Mac Jones to the Jaguars, a source confirmed to the Herald.

The Patriots will reportedly receive a sixth-round pick after they explored trading Jones for weeks and took calls in recent days. The trade cannot be finalized until the new league year begins Wednesday at 4 p.m., and Jones passes a physical in Jacksonville.

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The 25-year-old leaves New England after back-to-back tumultuous seasons that ended with him sitting for the final six games of last year. He completed 64.9% of his passes for 10 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and 2,120 yards, while the team went 2-9 in games he started. Jones was also benched four times before losing his job for good to backup Bailey Zappe in early December.

The Patriots are now expected to draft a quarterback and sign one in free agency next week. In Jacksonville, Jones will back up fellow 2021 first-round pick Trevor Lawrence. The Jaguars were the only team to extend an offer, per CBS Sports, while the NFL Network says four teams were “in the mix” for Jones.

Jones entered the league as the Patriots’ next apparent face of the franchise in 2021, when the team selected him with the 15th overall pick in that year’s draft. He then enjoyed one of the best statistical rookie seasons by a quarterback in NFL history, posting a 67.6% completion percentage, 3,801 yards, 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. The Patriots made the playoffs that season, still their only trip since 2019.

Jones was voted a team captain the following year, but ultimately fell out of favor with the coaching staff and locker room. He endured a churn of coaching and roster turnover, while the team surrounded him with some of the worst skill-position talent in the league.

Under de facto offensive coordinator Matt Patricia and new quarterbacks coach Joe Judge in 2022, Jones regressed statistically during an 8-9 campaign. After the team parted with Patricia and re-assigned Judge to special teams, Jones appeared to turn a corner early last season under new offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien. However, during a 2-8 start, he fell apart, getting spooked at the first sign of pressure and posting the highest interception rate of his career.

Jones was infamously benched at the end of a 10-6 loss to the Colts in Germany, when Zappe took over with less than two minutes remaining. After Zappe threw a game-sealing interception, the two competed in practice ahead of the team’s next game, when Jones was again anointed the starter. But in a 10-7 loss to the Giants, Jones fired two first-half interceptions and was benched for the remainder of the year.

Zappe and journeyman backup Nathan Rourke are now the only other quarterbacks under contract in New England, while Jones returns to his native Jacksonville.

If the teams settle on a sixth-round pick as compensation, the Patriots will have eight selections in the upcoming draft; one in every round, except the sixth, where they now own two.