Trey Lance Nightmare With 49ers Is Over And It's On To Dallas In A Trade With Surprising Compensation
Remember that drama about Trey Lance being demoted and unhappy but having to play in a preseason game Friday night for the San Francisco 49ers anyway?
Yeah, not happening.
Lance was traded Friday afternoon to the Dallas Cowboys only hours before he was scheduled to suit up for the 49ers in a preseason game against the Los Angeles Chargers, a source confirmed to OutKick.
Drama over.
Trey Lance of the San Francisco 49ers rolls out during mandatory minicamp at the SAP Performance Facility on June 7, 2023 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images)
49ers Get Better Pick Than Expected For Lance
The compensation of the deal is a 2024 fourth-round pick, per NFL Media. The Cowboys, which liked Lance coming out of the 2021 draft to the point they had him rated a second-round prospect, are on the hook for Lance's contract. Dallas will be paying Lance the remaining portion of his rookie contract, which is $940,000 this season and $5.3 million next season.
The fourth-rounder is a lot higher price for Lance than any pundit thought the 49ers would get. Imagine the going rate for a quarterback who has played only eight games the past two years being that fourth-rounder?
The 49ers seem to have done well for themselves.
But a source said there was an actual market for Lance, with multiple teams interested. And that drove up the price.
And now what?
The Cowboys expect to park Lance on their roster as their No. 3 quarterback behind starter Dak Prescott and backup Cooper Rush. That will have to be the case at minimum until Lance learns the offense while acclimating to his new team and city.
But the Cowboys are ready to play the long game with Lance, per a source.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones looks on during the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Jacksonville Jaguars on December 18, 2022 at tIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Fl. (Photo by David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Cowboys Look To Future With Trade
Rush is signed through 2024 but he can be cut next offseason or after training camp at a cap savings of $2.25 million. That would happen only if Lance impresses enough to merit him becoming the backup.
The Cowboys are also very comfortable that Prescott, whom they do not plan to move on from through the remainder of his contract, is a professional and will help Lance mature in his backup role.
Then there's this: Prescott's contract also expires after 2024.
He'll be only 32 years old at that point so that's not an issue. But what is an issue is whether Prescott by then has carried the Cowboys beyond their unremarkable playoff performances that have typically ended in the divisional round the past couple of seasons.
Prescott also tied for the NFL lead in interceptions last season.
If he addressed those mistakes while helping lift the team to heights that match owner Jerry Jones' expectations, Prescott will get a new deal and remain the face of the franchise in Dallas.
If he doesn't?
The Cowboys now have a 23-year-old quarterback with a high draft pedigree in the pipeline.