Cowboys Linked to Surprising Trade for 49ers QB Trey Lance

Getty San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance throws a pass during an NFL game.

The Dallas Cowboys have zero questions about who is their starting quarterback for 2023, but they are now being linked to a move for San Francisco 49ers QB Trey Lance. Dak Prescott is the team’s starter for the foreseeable future, but they could look to prepare a potential replacement through Lance.

Lance has had a difficult start to his NFL career after being taken as the third overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft. The 49ers have now named him the third-string QB on their depth chart and are apparently open to trading him. USA Today’s Nate Davis thinks the Cowboys should be considered as one of those landing spots.

“No question this is Dak Prescott’s team … at least for the next two seasons he’s under contract. No quarterback on the roster of America’s Team is going to be invisible, but Lance could sharpen his skills – probably for a while – in what passes for anonymity in Dallas,” Davis explains. “And don’t forget, Mike McCarthy had Brett Favre as his QB1 for two years in Green Bay before transitioning to future four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers.”

It would be a sensational trade move for Dallas, but Davis is just listing the Cowboys as an option alongside several other NFL teams.

Lance Loses Ground with 49ers

The quarterback sweepstakes of the 2021 NFL draft had winners and losers, but it seems as if no team lost harder than San Francisco. The 49ers traded up to the No. 3 spot to take the former North Dakota State star, giving up their first-round selections in the 2022 and 2023 drafts.

The 49ers took it slow with Lance, letting him sit behind Jimmy Garoppolo as a rookie in 2021, although injuries to Garoppolo did give Lance his first chance to start. It was mostly just training for the 2022 campaign that was supposed to be the 23-year-old’s launch pad.

But disaster struck just two weeks into the season when Lance suffered a major ankle injury that shelved him for the rest of the year. The QB’s injury allowed Brock Purdy to step in and claim the starting job as his own.

According to PFR, Lance made just 8 total appearances and four starts for San Francisco. He completed 56 of 102 passing attempts, totaling 797 passing yards and throwing 5 touchdowns to 3 interceptions. He also rushed for 235 yards and a touchdown.

New Deal for Cowboys’ Dak Prescott?

While Dallas gets linked with a quarterback for the future, there are also reports that the Cowboys are working on a new deal with Dak Prescott. As Heavy’s Jonathan Adams wrote up, Prescott is already on a huge contract but they may already be maneuvering for another change.

According to The Athletic’s Jeff Howe, fans shouldn’t expect a restructure immediately but it is in the works.

“The Cowboys and Prescott have already had early discussions about a new deal, according to a league source,” Howe explained in an article on August 6, 2023. “It doesn’t sound like anything is imminent, but there’s obvious motivation for the team to knock down that 2024 cap hit while they address potentially massive extensions for [Micah] Parsons and [CeeDee] Lamb.”

Without a new deal or restructure, Prescott will count as a $59.4 million cap hit in 2024. If Dallas wants to keep their best young players, that will likely have to change.