On Wednesday, the San Francisco 49ers informed Trey Lance that Sam Darnold, the veteran free agent signed in March, won the QB2 job behind starter Brock Purdy. The 49ers insist they still value Lance but acknowledge the more experienced Darnold is better suited to be Purdy's backup. Purdy is entering his second NFL season after eight starts as a rookie.
With that, the 49ers are open to all possibilities. That includes a potential trade, assuming the terms benefit both Lance and the Niners. Someone has to be interested, though, and according to one recent report, no one is banging down the door to make a deal for the former No. 3 overall pick.
"It's just really hard to trade him. Not impossible," NFL insider Ian Rapoport, who helped break the news of the 49ers' QB2 decision on Wednesday, said on KNBR's "Murph and Mac" show. "Again, they've made calls. They've tried to do what they could do, but it's just hard to trade him."
Lance is guaranteed $5.3 million next season, which seems to be the holdup on any deal. The NFL insider explains that's not a lot of money for a backup quarterback, but what if Lance doesn't win the backup job, as he didn't with the 49ers? Then, that's a lot of money to commit.
"They are exploring options," Rapoport continued. "They are trying. I don't know if anything's going to be able to happen."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Rapoport below.
Lance could remain on the 49ers roster. It's a scenario that head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch have publicly said they would welcome. Of course, they did so without closing the door on the possibility of a trade.
Shanahan and Lynch were asked if they expect Lance to be on the 49ers roster when the team faces the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1.
"I'm really hoping so," Shanahan responded. "I mean, this isn't a thing that we're giving up on Trey. ... I really hope when it's said and done that all three of these guys are here, and you never know when that's going to come up. We needed four guys last year. It doesn't happen much, but if we can have Trey as an option here, I would feel extremely happy about that, and I think the other quarterbacks in our room would, and I think our team would."
Said Lynch in a separate interview: "I think that's the most likely option. As I said, we're very happy with Trey. That's probably the most likely option, is that he's here. If we could find a landing spot for Trey, that is a really good one for him and works for our organization, that's not something we turn a blind eye to."
