The Trey Lance era in San Francisco has come to an end. According to NFL insider Adam Schefter, the 49ers have traded Lance to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a 4th round pick in the 2024 draft.
Several factors played into Lance not fulfilling the potential San Francisco saw in the quarterback when they selected him third overall in the 2021 draft.
Dallas represents a fresh start for Lance who had the best training camp of his time in San Francisco this season. That performance speaks to the character of Trey Lance. Despite knowing the odds were stacked against him, he did everything possible to show the best version of himself to Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers front office.
Let’s be clear, Lance was the second-best quarterback on the practice field in Santa Clara this offseason. By choosing Sam Darnold over Lance as the backup to Brock Purdy and now trading him away, the 49ers have weakened their quarterback room.
Lance was set to cost the 49ers $9,301,434 million against the 2023 salary cap. San Francisco will incur a dead cap hit this season of $8,361,434 million, saving them just $940,000. In 2024 the 49ers will incur a dead cap hit of $5,540,956 in 2024, however this will be an overall savings of $5,310,717 against the salary cap.
Dallas will now have the opportunity to decide whether they will pick up the fifth year option on Lance following this season. Lance’s rookie contract runs through 2024 and Dallas could choose to move forward with him instead of Dak Prescott. Prescott’s contract also runs through the 2024 season.
For San Francisco, they need to hope this doesn’t turn out the same way as their last big trade with Dallas. In August of 1992 San Francisco sent Charles Haley to the Cowboys in exchange for second and third round draft picks the following year. The move proved to be the final piece Dallas needed as the Cowboys went on to win three Super Bowls over the next four seasons.
It’s too bad that things didn’t turn out well for Lance in SF. You state that Lance was better than Sam on the practice field and since I wasn’t there I can’t dispute your opinion. However, in the 2 preseason games, I thought Sam clearly was the better of the 2 and it’s in actual games that count.
I had high hopes when Lance was drafted but injuries severely hampered his progress. He was not going to get the reps on the Niners so a trade was probably in the best interest of Lance. Hopefully he gets the chance to get reps in Dallas. Best of luck to him.
Lance didn’t really impress when he first got to the Niners. He didn’t beat out Garoppolo. He was also unimpressive in the games he played. He struggled, look confused. Totally the opposite of Brock Purdy, who had to go in on sudden notice. He was in total control. Suddenly Kyle saw what Lance lacked. Purdy made the Niners into the team Kyle envisioned.
And no one wanted Lance. They all watched tape on him and passed.
Dallas got him on the cheap and will have the time to develope him. SF wants a winner now. And Kyle doesn’t even trust Lance enough to even have him as a backup. That’s reality. Trey’s not going to Dallas to even be a backup.
I hope he develops. But the Niners saw enough. And so did ever other team.
What a potential nightmare.
The nightmare was hidden in the gross overpayment of three first-rounders for a raw, inaccurate, inconsistent overvalued QB. Today’s trade is just the culmination of that dreadful move. Time to cut our losses and move on.
Kyle liked Trey more than Lance. Lance never had the trust of Kyle. The trade can be defended and might be a better deal than many think. Trey was clearly not a franchise QB and some saw that in his first camp. He is after 3 years, still a raw developmental prospect.
I will miss Trey as a person. But not as a QB. I did my mourning the first summer of his first year with the Niners. The Niners clearly made a bad choice. A really nonsensical move for a high school star who played minor league ball in the wilds of North Dakota. He was never worth a first-round choice, let alone three.
Kyle has some faith in Darnold. He did not buy the good play of Trey against a nothing preseason game against a mediocre Denver team playing their second and third team against Lance.
In a perfect world, I would rather have had Jed say, “No” to that trade because the risk to the emotional well-being of the fanbase is too great if Lance comes back to haunt us as a Cowboy; that is, the risk to my well-being. Any other trade, OK. I don’t know if anybody here shares my sentiment or even thinks I’m crazy. (Maybe). But don’t bother to tell me that the bizness side of things should always trump the sentiment. Even for a 1st round pick. I’m not talking price here.
Agree that Darnold looked better in the preseason games. The distraction has ended. Best of luck to Trey but it’s time to play football!!
That is a piss poor write up. Every football pundit felt Trey was beat out for the # 2 except for you and Cohn.
And comparing the Charles Haley trade as well is the biggest stretch known to man. Trey Lance was no Charles Haley.
Enjoy the 25 million Trey
That’s it. Last straw. I’m completely done with this joke of a franchise. I was out after seeing what the Yorks did to Colin but Trey brought me back. They gave up everything to get him and now they are selling low because KS would rather roll with Jimmy G 2.0 and lose another playoff game. Rinse repeat.
I’m officially a Cowboys fan now. Maybe the rest of you fools will wake up eventually. This is a loser franchise that celebrates losing. Good riddance!
Bye Bye Bay
My first time commenting in years……Bay you were never a Niners fan to begin with. You just had a really weird hate boner for Alex Smith and an unhealthy schoolgirl obsession with Krappernick. Go hang out on the Cowgirls blog and annoy them, you won’t be missed around these parts
Bay,
Are you alright? Are you seriously becoming a C’boys fan?
I don’t know who you are anymore, lol.
I am actually surprised they got a fourth. The intangibles of a quarterback in the pocket see m pretty clear to me when he was. I just didn’t think he had the it factor. I wanted him to, desperately, because of our draft investment in him. But I just never saw it. They cut their losses. I think that is a sign of a good franchise. There are gamble’s made all the time, and he definitely was a big one. And it didn’t pay out. But Brock I think, is money. We’ll see. I hope for the best for him because he seems like a good dude, but if I had to bet, I don’t think he’s actually going to come back and haunt us.
Just happy the QB2 talk will finally come to a close.
Onwards!