Getty Trey Lance during the August 19, 2023 preseason game versus Denver.
Now NFL fans, let alone fans of the San Francisco 49ers, are envisioning what becomes of Trey Lance ahead of 2023 now that the football world knows where he’s listed on the Niners’ depth chart.
One analyst, though, offered this surprising idea on Thursday, August 24: The 2021 No. 3 overall pick being sent to a longtime rival of the 49ers…and one they’ve gotten reacclimated within their more recent playoff runs.
‘Lance Could Sharpen His Skills’ With Cowboys, Says Analyst
Among the ideas proposed by Nate Davis of USA Today? The 49ers make a deal with their longtime playoff nemesis the Dallas Cowboys that sends Lance over to the NFC East.
“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 said.
Davis includes one more tidbit involving the Cowboys head coach that intertwines with his proposal involving Dallas.
“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,” Davis wrote.
Granted, that was a vastly different situation in Green Bay for McCarthy. Rodgers was a draft pick by the Packers who ended up waiting his turn behind the future Hall of Famer Favre.
Furthermore, Dallas outside of the perennial Pro Bowler Prescott has a strong QB room with last season’s surprise Cooper Rush — who went 4-1 as a starter when Prescott was injured — and Will Grier, who is entering his fifth NFL season and has completed 71% of his throws during the 2023 preseason.
Adding Lance would have to mean dumping Grier or Rush as part of a big trade package for Dallas, or simply waiving one of them to make room for Lance. In this case, the likely one would be Grier as he’s been long considered a player with shorter odds of making the final 53-man roster compared to Rush.
But while this is a stirring idea for both parties, the big question becomes if Jerry Jones would consider making a run at Lance.
Are the 49ers Expecting Lance at all This Season?
The writing is on the wall that Lance is heading toward a possible early to midseason exit.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan even explained why Lance wasn’t at practice when the Wednesday news broke that Sam Darnold had moved up to QB2 behind starter Brock Purdy: He told Lance “clear your head” and “get away a little bit” from the 49ers facility via KNBR.
But does Shanahan actually hope to maintain Lance?
“I’m really hoping (to keep Lance),” he said on the radio. “This isn’t a thing that we’re giving up on Trey. This is more about how Brock played in his seven games and that was decided before the season started and how good Sam has looked. They’ve both looked good. But we do have to make a decision here. And you only get so many reps at it. And we feel that, starting about 10 days ago, Sam really separated himself and we’ve gotta keep it real in that way.”
Shanahan added: “But I feel very, very fortunate to have both of them here. I really hope when it’s said and done that all three of these guys are here and you never know when that’s going to come up. We needed four guys last year. It doesn’t happen much, but if we can have Trey as an option here, I would feel extremely happy about that. I think the other quarterbacks in our room would and I think our team would.”