Getty Cowboys quarterback Trey Lance (right)
There has been ample speculation about what might happen with the quarterback situation in Dallas lately, and a decisive move was made on the Cowboys Trey Lance, keeping him in place by giving him the $4.25 million roster bonus his contract called for last week. Though Lance is staying on, there is still some question about how long he will remain a Cowboy.
According to NFL Media host Rich Eisen of the “Rich Eisen Show,” that might not be long. Eisen featured a segment on Monday titled, “Top 5 Rumors Heard at the NFL Combine,” and Lance was smack-dab in the middle of the fifth one. Eisen had heard, more than once, the rumor that Lance could wind up in Minnesota in a trade.
“A possible salve at quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings is a native of the state, and his name is Trey Lance,” Eisen said. “Trey Lance is a possible salve for the Vikings. Now, the Cowboys picked up, kept him on the roster long enough for him to get a bonus, so they’re paying the money to keep him. They, as you know, got him for a five.
“I just wonder if the Vikings flip them a (third-round) pick, a Friday night pick, do they do that?”
4th-Round Pick Sent to 49ers Last Year
It would represent a good exchange rate for the Cowboys when it comes to Lance, if Dallas can pluck a third-rounder from the Vikings. The Cowboys actually coughed up a fourth-round pick to the 49ers last summer to get Lance, and promptly decided to keep him 100% shelved. Lance did not play a snap all season.
But if the Cowboys can turn a year of inactivity into a jump from a fourth-rounder to a third-rounder, that would have to be considered a win.
Lance has not appeared in an NFL game since September 2022, when he fractured his ankle, an injury that kept him out for the year. Lance grew up in Marshall, Minnesota, and played at North Dakota State before he was selected with the No. 3 pick in the 2021 draft by San Francisco.
Cowboys’ Trey Lance Can’t Crack QB Rotation
Certainly, if the Vikings want to take a chance on Lance, it’s the talent he showed ahead of the NFL draft last year that would be the draw. His NFL production comes from just an eight-game career sample, too small to make a judgment. Lance has 797 career passing yards, and rushed for 235 yards on 54 carries (4.4 avg.) in eight career games.
He is not likely to be of much use in Dallas, where Dak Prescott is the established starter. Still, the Cowboys were high on Lance’s potential when they traded for him, and perhaps the Vikings are, too.
As owner Jerry Jones said of Lance after the deal went through: “We grade quarterbacks every year. Mike (McCarthy has) encouraged and we’re all for, been wanting to draft a quarterback for the last three drafts.
“The problem is, we put third- and fourth-round grades on guys and they’re all gone by halfway through the second round. People get these guys. This was a great opportunity, we think, value-wise, to get a guy (that) has a bright future.”