The Trey Lance era in San Francisco was over before it ever begun. The 2021 No. 3 overall pick, who was never really given a shot to succeed, surprisingly was traded to the rival Dallas Cowboys for a fourth-round pick on Friday.
The news comes just two days after the 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and GM John Lynch met with Lance to inform him that would begin the season as the team’s No. 3 quarterback behind starter Brock Purdy and backup Sam Darnold, who was signed this offseason.
That announcement didn’t sit well with Lance who reportedly was given the day off to decompress and clear his head with the new reality that he was now the team’s emergency signal-caller. But just about 48 hours later the former North Dakota State Bison star is headed to Dallas to pretty much do the same thing he did in San Fran, and that’s be the Cowboys No. 3 QB behind Dak Prescott and fan favorite backup Cooper Rush.
Cowboys Make Low Risk, High Reward Move
Trading for Lance at this stage is a low risk and high reward move. It’s not often you get the opportunity to land a top-three pick for pennies on the dollar just two seasons after he was drafted. The move is shrewd, and if it works could come back to haunt the Niners.
On Thursday, Lynch told KNBR radio this about the possibility of moving Lance.
“If we can find a landing spot for Trey that is a really good one for him and works for our organization, that’s not something we’d turn a blind eye to,” Lynch said.
Friday’s move is one that many believe puts more pressure on Cowboys starter Dak Prescott to lead the team to at least the NFC championship, a place they haven’t been since the 1995-96 season. While, that may be far-fetched, Prescott’s $40 million salary and consistent playoff failures always keep him in the news.
At this point we don’t even know if Lance can play. He’s only had four starts, and you could see in those the talented but extremely inexperienced quarterback had a long way to go. Another factor in his demise was injuries, and, plain and simple, he just didn’t fit the aforementioned Shanahan’s offense.
If we’re being politically correct, the most successful QBs in Shanny’s system have been the traditional pocket passers, not dual-threat guys like Lance. Take away Robert Griffin III’s magical 2012 season under Shanahan, and there’s none, to be exact.
Niners Got Burned By Trade With Cowboys In 1992
Trading Lance might end up not meaning much at all at the end of the day. But Niners fans also remember the last time they traded a player to the Cowboys it was Hall of Famer Charles Haley, who helped the Boys defeat the Niners in back-to-back championship games. The 49ers returned the favor in 1995.
