The move is a remarkable backtrack following the hefty investment the Niners' made in the hope of Trey Lance becoming a franchise quarterback; "We take full accountability," general manager John Lynch said. "We own that"
Sunday 27 August 2023 08:11, UK
The San Francisco 49ers have traded quarterback Trey Lance to the Dallas Cowboys for a fourth-round pick less than three years after trading three first-round picks to draft him third overall.
Lance had lost the competition to Sam Darnold to be the back-up to Brock Purdy in San Francisco earlier in the week, setting the stage for his departure on Friday just hours before the Niners played their exhibition finale against the Los Angeles Chargers.
"When we told him that he was going to be the three, if he could find another opportunity that was good, we'd allow him to do that, and he did," coach Kyle Shanahan said. "We feel he'll be better for it, and I think we will, too."
The move is a remarkable backtrack following the hefty investment the Niners made in the hope of Lance becoming a franchise quarterback.
"We take full accountability," general manager John Lynch said. "We own that. But I think his story is very much unwritten. I have got a lot of belief in the kid. I think with his talent, his work ethic, he's going to forge a nice career in this thing."
San Francisco traded three first-round picks and a third-rounder to Miami in 2021 to move up from No 12 and draft the untested Lance third overall. But the 49ers are now cutting ties with a 23-year-old quarterback who was given only four starts in the NFL.
Lance started only 17 games at FCS-level North Dakota State before the Niners' drafted him, and he never got much of a chance to gain the experience he needed in the NFL.
He was handed the starting job last season, but that lasted less than five quarters as he broke his ankle early in Week 2 and was sidelined for the rest of the season.
"I always feel like I let Trey down," Shanahan said. "I wanted him to come here. I believe in Trey. I believed in him before we took him, and I'm responsible for that. I didn't throw him into the heat of battle right away, but I thought he needed to play. So we tried to figure out every way to do that."
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said: "Lance gives us an opportunity to do what we would always like to be doing. It would be ideal with Dak to have a young, prospective, developing quarterback that could just be in the room."
"We felt good about him with the evaluation we had for him at the draft. We felt good about what we've seen, tape that he's had since he's been in the NFL. And it's one that we made the decision almost the minute we heard the name. Let's get him."
Jones said he didn't seek Dak Prescott's input before the Cowboys made the move, and still hadn't talked to his star QB more than 24 hours after the deal was announced.
"We very seldom ever talk to anybody, another player, about who we're thinking about drafting or who we're thinking about getting involved with," Jones said. "We don't do that."
Prescott said he wasn't surprised by the trade, or by not being informed beforehand. "I understand that they're probably on a timeline," said Prescott, the starter since the opener of his rookie season in 2016 after Tony Romo was injured.
"They need to get something done. As I said, he felt like that strengthened this team. As I said, ready to welcome him."
Purdy, taken with the last draft pick in 2022, came on late in the season and won his first seven starts to take over the starting role for San Franciso heading into this season.
San Francisco signed Darnold in free agency after he flamed out with the Jets and Carolina after also being drafted third overall in 2018 by New York. Darnold ended up doing enough in practices and the first two preseason games to beat out Lance.
Lance's four starts are the fewest for any quarterback taken in the top five of the draft in the common draft era for the team he made his debut. Jack Thompson had the previous low after starting five games for Cincinnati after being taken third overall in 1979.
The Cowboys now get a look at Lance, who is owed $940,000 this year and is guaranteed $5.3m next season in the final year of his rookie deal.
