Niners trading QB Trey Lance to Cowboys for fourth-round pick

The San Francisco 49ers are trading quarterback Trey Lance to the Dallas Cowboys, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Friday.

The 49ers will receive a 2024 fourth-round pick in exchange for Lance, per NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero.

The Niners, who traded three first-round picks to Miami to move up to select Lance No. 3 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, announced earlier in the week that Lance would be the team’s No. 3 quarterback on the depth chart behind Brock Purdy and Sam Darnold after the latter won the competition for the backup role.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan said after the announcement that he still believed the young QB could find success “with us or someone else ever in the future.”

Now, Lance will have a fresh start in Dallas.

San Francisco will only recoup a fraction of the value it sent to Miami by dealing the player who was expected to be the future of the franchise to Dallas.

Lance’s opportunities to start for the Niners were limited, with injuries partially to blame. He broke his finger and sprained his knee in his first campaign, and then broke his ankle just two games into the 2022 season, taking him out for the year and continuing a chain of events that opened the door for current starter Purdy to take over.

Overall Lance, who was originally slated to play in the Niners’ preseason finale versus the Los Angeles Chargers, is 2-2 in eight appearances across two seasons, finishing his tenure in the Bay Area with 797 passing yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions.

With a new destination solidified, the question now is how Lance will fit into the Cowboys’ existing depth chart. Dak Prescott is still the starter in Dallas, and behind him sit backup Cooper Rush and Will Grier. Lance is expected to be the team’s third-string signal-caller, per Rapoport, with the opportunity to develop into more. Still only 23 years old, Lance has a new team that’s taking a low-price chance he could develop into something special, as was initially predicted of him.

He will be due $6.25 million fully guaranteed over the next two seasons, Rapoport noted, with a fifth-year option still available to the Cowboys if the situation presents itself.

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