Cowboys May Have New Backup Quarterback in Playoff Matchup vs. Packers

Getty Trey Lance could be the Dallas Cowboys backup quarterback against the Green Bay Packers.

Trey Lance may be headed for a promotion with the Dallas Cowboys for the team’s playoff matchup against the Green Bay Packers. Backup quarterback Cooper Rush is listed as questionable against the Packers.

Rush has served as the team’s QB2 throughout the season but is dealing with an illness. Lance has been the team’s emergency third quarterback but has yet to take a snap for the Cowboys this season.

Dallas is hoping neither player sees the field in the postseason given Dak Prescott played in all 17 regular-season games. If Rush is unable to suit up, it would put Lance one play away from potentially seeing the field in the NFL playoffs.

Lance may have yet to play for Dallas, but head coach Mike McCarthy has been impressed with the quarterback. The Cowboys coach labeled Lance a “great fit” for the team.

“I’m with Trey every day. I see him in the meetings. He’s obviously had to learn a whole new language,” McCarthy noted on December 28, 2023, per The Athletic’s Jon Machota. “I think the timing of everything, that’s a challenge for any position. He’s very comfortable, very confident.

“You just can’t get enough work on the footwork because everybody teaches that part of it a little differently and how it fits the scheme and getting it timed up with all the players. He just needs to work. But I love his personality, love his work ethic, obviously very talented. He’s been a great fit.”

Cowboys Rumors: Will Dallas Look to Trade Trey Lance or Cooper Rush?

With Prescott headed towards a lucrative contract extension, rumors continue to buzz about the futures of Rush and Lance. All three quarterbacks are once again under contract for 2024.

Lance’s cap hit jumps up to $5.3 million for next season, a good bit of money to pay for a third-string quarterback. The Cowboys could also keep Lance and look to trade Rush. Sports Illustrated’s Mike Fisher noted there is a real scenario where all three quarterbacks remain on the roster in 2024.

“It’s been written that Dallas is ‘going to have to make a choice about whether to keep Lance around or not,'” Fisher noted in a January 5, 2024 column titled, “Rumor: Cowboys to Trade Dak Prescott Backup QB Cooper Rush or Trey Lance; 10 Truths Inside The Star.” “Indeed, according to the contract website Spotrac, Lance is very much on the ‘roster bubble’ for the Cowboys in 2024.

“That is false. He is an asset – if not as a third-string QB (assuming he doesn’t beat out Rush next summer) than in a trade … as long as Dallas gets more than a fourth-round pick back for him.”

Dallas Cowboys Quarterback Trey Lance Has ‘Grown Close’ With Receivers CeeDee Lamb & Jalen Tolbert

As the No. 3 pick in the 2021 NFL draft, Lance continues to possess high upside but is a relative unknown with just four starts under his belt. The 23-year-old quarterback appears to be settling into life in Dallas.

“Good stuff today from McCarthy on Trey Lance. I caught up with Trey in the locker room last week and you can sense the growing comfortability he has in Dallas,” DallasCowboys.com’s Nick Harris detailed in a December 28 message on X.

“He’s gotten settled with a house, has grown close with CeeDee Lamb and Jalen Tolbert, and is excited about his future.”