After the 2020 season, the San Francisco 49ers looked to build around a quarterback on a rookie contract, eventually landing on Trey Lance, making him the No. 3 overall draft pick. That didn't come cheap. The team had to trade away three first-round picks and a third-rounder to the Miami Dolphins to move up to get him.
Lance spent this offseason battling with free-agent addition Sam Darnold for the QB2 job behind Brock Purdy. On Wednesday morning, head coach Kyle Shanahan informed Lance that he had lost that battle.
Now, Lance's future is murky. The 49ers coach insists he'd like to keep the third-year quarterback on the roster but didn't dismiss the possibility that he could be traded.
NFL insiders Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport were the first to break the news that Darnold had been named the No. 2 quarterback in Santa Clara. On Wednesday, the former joined 95.7 The Game to discuss the 49ers' quarterback situation.
Why declare Darnold the winner now versus waiting until just before Week 1 of the regular season? It gives the team time to gauge trade interest before the 53-man roster cutdown.
"I think it's also they've seen enough now through the course of camp that they know, again, that they're going to keep Sam and Brandon [Allen] on the roster, in addition to Brock," Pelissero said on the "Willard and Dibs" show. "And so Trey's sort of the odd man out here. So now, yes, you've got six days for teams to assess their depth charts. I think, as everybody knows now, the third quarterback rule is back. That may lead to more teams keeping a third quarterback on their roster.
"And there's a lot of teams out there right now who, if you just look at their depth charts, they don't have a third NFL-caliber player right now, just in terms of a guy that you'd want to step in and start games."
There may be teams out there that had a high draft grade on Lance, but understand that injuries and misfortune have hampered the quarterback's brief NFL career. They may be willing to take a risk on a player like that.
"At this point, is that a mid-round pick with some type of conditional upside? Probably in that area, which I know is a tough pill to swallow given what the 49ers gave up to go and get Trey Lance. But they also found maybe their franchise quarterback with the 'Mr. Irrelevant' pick, the last pick in the seventh round [last year]. So some of those things balance out.
"And again, the 49ers are in the spot where they're going for it. They think that they're a Super Bowl-caliber team. They do have a really, really good roster. You're moving forward, and Trey Lance, unfortunately for him, is the guy who's kind of been left behind."
Pelissero believes one possible landing spot for Lance is the Minnesota Vikings.
"Trey Lance is from Minnesota, and he's got family there, and he went to North Dakota State, which isn't far away, but also, Kirk Cousins is in a contract year," Pelissero explained. "The Vikings, even though they've remade that roster through the course of the offseason here, and a lot of those familiar veteran names are gone, they're still a team that went 13-4 last year.
"And they've got Justin Jefferson, and they've got Cousins, and they've got Danielle Hunter. They brought back Harrison Smith. They're not going to win [only] two games this year. They're not going to be at the top of the draft and go get Drake Maye or Caleb Williams."
While Pelissero believes it likely the 49ers will trade Trey Lance in the coming days, he isn't completely dismissing the possibility that the team holds onto the 23-year-old quarterback.
"Sam Darnold is on a one-year contract," the NFL insider said. "Brock Purdy, still haven't seen him, in terms of regular-season game action, coming off of the elbow [injury]. And Trey Lance is still [23] years old. He's still a young player that has a lot of things that they like about him. I don't see them flipping him for a conditional seven from 2025. It's got to be a real offer that makes sense for them. They get value, and Trey gets the opportunity to go someplace else.
"If they don't get that, maybe you hold on to him. Maybe you do carry four quarterbacks, or you do the release and re-sign to the practice squad with Brandon Allen down the stretch. I think that Brandon Allen is going to be on the 53 come next Tuesday. But there's different things you can do now with the new practice squad rules. Maybe you hold onto him into the season.
"I don't think that, by any stretch, we're saying that next Tuesday is a hard cut-off here. But certainly, the red light is on for the rest of the league. 'Hey, we got a situation here. A guy that you had really high on your draft boards a few years ago is now available. Do you want him? If so, let's see your best offers. Let's go from there.'"
You can listen to the entire conversation with Pelissero below.
