According to Adam Schefter of ESPN and the player's agent, the San Francisco 49ers have signed quarterback Trey Lance to his four-year rookie deal. The team selected Lance out of North Dakota State with the No. 3 overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft. He was the last unsigned player from San Francisco's most recent draft class.
The signing comes just hours before the 49ers go through their first practice of training camp.
Before the 49ers practice begins today, No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance signed his four-year, $34.1 million fully-guaranteed contract.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 28, 2021
Done deal. @treylance09 🤝 @49ers #CAA x #NFL x #TBDTB pic.twitter.com/ZDmDcgvEQz
— CAA Football (@CAA_Football) July 28, 2021
General manager John Lynch told reporters on Tuesday that he was hopeful that a deal would be agreed to soon and the quarterback would put pen to paper before the 49ers hit the practice field.
"We're sure hopeful that he does," Lynch said. "Sometimes these things -- I just look at our history since we've been here. We've never had a holdout. It always seems to go down to the wire. It's important that he is here."
On March 26, San Francisco traded up nine spots from its initial pick, No. 12 overall, to move into a position to draft Lance. The team surrendered first-round picks in 2021, 2022, and 2023, and a third-rounder in 2021 to do so.
The Bison's 2020 season was postponed until the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lance appeared in just one non-conference game this past season, throwing for 149 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception while adding 143 rushing yards and two more scores on the ground in a 39-28 victory over Central Arkansas.
Lance completed 66.9 percent of his passes for 2,786 yards with 28 passing touchdowns and no interceptions through 16 games as a sophomore in 2019 while adding 1,100 rushing yards with 14 rushing touchdowns.
Lance will enter training camp slated to be the backup quarterback to Jimmy Garoppolo. While there is a chance he could impress during scheduled practices, head coach Kyle Shanahan expects Garoppolo to hold onto the top spot. Although, Shanahan would not be against starting a rookie, given the amount of talent on the 49ers roster.
"I definitely see it as Jimmy's the starter," Shanahan said in June. "But if Trey's ready to compete, I have no problem with it. I don't sit there and say, 'Hey, we're not playing a rookie quarterback. We have to rest him the first year.' I don't really make any decisions like that until I actually have an opinion on it. That'll take to how I see him in camp. If he comes in and he's playing at a high level and we think he gives us the best chance to win, we wouldn't hesitate to do that.
"But like I kind of said before this happened, it'd be really hard for any rookie quarterback. Jimmy is a very good player. He's not just coming in trying to beat out a guy who hasn't done it before. When Jimmy's played, he's played at a very high level."
Shanahan stated this week that Garoppolo enters training camp as the clear No. 1 quarterback on the depth chart, and Lance will serve as his backup.
"There's no open competition right now in terms of they're getting equal reps with the same group," Shanahan told reporters Tuesday. "Jimmy's coming in as the one and Trey's coming in as the two."
Thanks to the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which runs through the 2030 season, all rookie contracts are for a length of four years. First-round selections come with an option for a fifth year, which, for the 49ers, applies only to Lance.
NFL teams must decide whether or not to activate the player's fifth-year option before the fourth and final year of the rookie deal. The salary earned during a fifth-year option is fully guaranteed and the amount to be earned is determined by playing time and Pro Bowl selections.
The total value of Lance's four-year contract is set to be $34,105,350, per OverTheCap.com. That includes a signing bonus of $22,163,892 and a 2021 salary-cap figure of $6,200,973.
Lance's signing leaves quarterback Zach Wilson of the New York Jets as the lone unsigned first-round pick.
