According to San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, the decision to make Sam Darnold the No. 2 quarterback over Trey Lance didn't come easily. Both players had been battling for the QB2 job behind Brock Purdy all offseason. Right around the 49ers' first preseason game, a loss against the Las Vegas Raiders, Darnold started to pull away in the race.
Ten days later, while preparing for their preseason finale against the Los Angeles Chargers, the 49ers made their decision.
"Just really starting back from OTAs, all the way to now, it was a hell of a battle," Shanahan said Wednesday on KNBR's "Tolbert & Copes" show. "They were neck and neck for a long time, but just really over these last 10 days and stuff, we felt Sam started to separate himself. We felt he did it in practice consistently, and he's been getting better each day.
"Trey made it real tight. He made it tough. It wasn't an easy decision for us, but we felt, with the work that they both put in, our decision was made before this game. So I felt that I owed it at least to Trey to tell him first and foremost, so I brought him in this morning (Wednesday) and let him know, and now we're here."
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Given everything the 49ers gave up for Lance, sending three first-round picks and a third-rounder to the Miami Dolphins to move up to get him, it's difficult to look at the trade as anything other than a complete failure. Lance was to be the team's franchise quarterback. Now, he's been beaten out by the last overall pick in last year's draft, Brock Purdy, and NFL journeyman Sam Darnold.
"There's three years of it, so it's a whole story to it," Shanahan said. "But I also don't think, Trey, this means that he can't be with us or someone else ever in the future. I mean, this is just where camp went right now. We know what Brock did in his seven games that he got to play, and that's why I was clear with all the quarterbacks here, and I think anyone who had asked me, Brock had earned that spot.
"We weren't sure if Brock was going to come back or not. And we had the opportunity to add another in free agency with Sam, and those guys have been competing for the two spot, and Sam just beat him out on that. It was a tough matchup for him, but he ended up pulling it off."
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Shanahan shared that the 49ers committed to building around a quarterback on a rookie contract after the 2020 season because of the salary-cap benefits of doing so. It meant keeping the majority of the team's talent together. Lance was the guy they had hoped to do it with. San Francisco did end up building around a quarterback on a rookie contract. However, it was Purdy.
The 49ers hoped to ease the inexperienced Lance in early, during his rookie season. The quarterback broke his finger during the preseason and suffered a knee injury during his first start.
Lance was named the starter the next offseason but suffered a season-ending ankle injury in his second game as the full-time starter.
"That was unfortunate," Shanahan said. "So he missed two years to develop, not to mention the COVID year of his last year in college. So now he had gone three years without it, and that opened up an opportunity for Brock."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Shanahan below.
