CFZ The murky thinking behind the Trey Lance trade

[OGSixshooter]

Last August, seemingly out of nowhere, Jerry Jones apparently made a fairly big decision without consulting his HC: He traded a 4th round pick to the 49ers in exchange for the niners former first round QB Trey Lance, who the niners had clearly decided was a mistake. Approximately six months and an entire regular season later, a clear purpose for this trade is still somewhat unclear if not strange.

Trey Lance has yet to take a meaningful snap for the Cowboys and was never on the game day roster this past season. Last off-season, the Cowboys had signed backup QB Cooper Rush to a two year, $5,000,000 contract. Rush has one more year on that deal but it does have a fairly painless out if they choose to release him as an upcoming post June 1 cut.

Also in this mix of head scratchers is the fact that Lance goes into 2024 on the last year of his rookie deal before becoming an unrestricted FA.
So here are some of my questions about the Lance move:

• What was the primary purpose for obtaining Trey Lance? (A successor to Dak, leverage against Dak in contract negotiations, future trade bait with other teams?)
• Are the Cowboys following some kind of plan with him…or not?
• How can the Cowboys know what they have in Lance if they hang on to Cooper Rush as the backup?

Here are some possible scenarios/answers to those questions:

• A- Lance was obtained to give the Cowboys leverage and a possible replacement for Dak should the team decide to move on from Dak. (I don’t see how Lance could be much trade bait if he never sees the field here)
• B- The plan is for Dak to be extended one more year, give time to develop Lance, then make him the starter in 2025. ???? If there’s a plan it’s not at all very clear.
• C- The Cowboys somehow already know what they have (or don’t have in Lance) Or…they are going to find out in TC this year?

Honestly I would be fine moving on from Dak via a trade if this team was willing to do a rebuild similar to what the pack did with Jordan Love last year. The problems there would be 1. Jerry won’t do a “rebuild” and 2. We don’t know if Lance is good enough to hand the keys to the car yet.

So what is the plan for Trey Lance? Is this some grand 3 dimensional chess our GM is playing? Or is it a strange fantasy football move centered on throwing spaghetti on the wall and seeing what sticks? If there is some grand and brilliant plan here, I’m not seeing it.

Thoughts?

I think it was "A" aka Jerry "wild-catting". He was hoping for **********.

 

[jgboys1]

If I were a betting man I would bet we're going to see quite a bit of Lance in camps and pre season.
Lance has got to be in the right system, and hopefully we'll use him that way.

I think so too and after another one and done in this past season's playoff lost, Jerry will definitely will be putting pressure on Big Mike to see what we have in Trey lance, if anything.

 

[youngjerryjones]

if Lance lights it up this pre-season and they extend Dak already it will be a colossal mistake... i don't think they will take that risk

 

[youngjerryjones]

guys let's think about this from a business perspective...if you have Lance light it up in pre-season and Dak has a sub mediocre year it makes his own FA value plummet and backs him into a corner with the franchise, because we have options now... think long-term on how this will play out...we can sign ceedee and make this decision next year and if Dak gets 5MM more per year because of it so what i'll take the risk

 

[Diehardblues]

Basically just an insurance policy if Daks gets hurt as Rush isn’t a long term fix . And being a former 1st round pick presents some potential to be groomed.

And for a 4th round pick as poorly as we draft in mid to late rounds minimal to give up.

I think this was also an opportunity to silence some of the critics who point out we don’t draft QB’s often enough especially in early rounds. So this gives us a former 1st round pick. Something we haven’t had this era. Kinda tricky for the old fool. And since he was a bust in SF there’s no pressure to give him playing time kinda burying him until later.

We’ll likely resign Dak for at least a couple years, keep Rush for his final season and then prob extend Lance one season at a time. Trey without any playing time for a couple years won’t have any outside interest and we can resign him cheap and begin giving him some playing time if Dak fizzles out or after Rush is gone.

Really a nothing Jethro can lose situation. And has that outside possibility of becoming a heir apparent at some point with minimal investment nor pressure. This is actually a move I applaud for our old fool.

 

[KJJ]

If I were a betting man I would bet we're going to see quite a bit of Lance in camps and pre season.
Lance has got to be in the right system, and hopefully we'll use him that way.

That’s a very safe bet. He’ll likely get more preseason reps than Rush.

 

[Mark]

I can't see Lance being in a position to do anything more this season than to - possibly - compete for Cooper Rush's job.

This isn't Staubach vs. Morton.

 

[Chasing6]

I can't see Lance being in a position to do anything more this season than to - possibly - compete for Cooper Rush's job.

This isn't Staubach vs. Morton.

He will win the back up job by default. $5M guaranteed contract.

 

[Diehardblues]

I can't see Lance being in a position to do anything more this season than to - possibly - compete for Cooper Rush's job.

This isn't Staubach vs. Morton.

Right. Rush is only one who needs to worry.

 

[noshame]

That’s a very safe bet. He’ll likely get more preseason reps than Rush.

I hope so either that or he's going to be cut l o l

 

[Chasing6]

Right. Rush is only one who needs to worry.

Rush should demand a trade or asked to be released immediately so he can find another team. Trance(my nickname moving forward for Trey Lance) will be the back up by default at $5M+.

 

[noshame]

What’s the right system if the 49ers system he couldn’t grasp?

The 49er offense involves not only pre snap reads, but motion Initiated by the qb based on those reads, then route adjustments on top of that.
Obviously ours does not. I'm sure we'll move him around a bit also.

 

[Chasing6]

The 49er offense involves not only pre snap reads, but motion Initiated by the qb based on those reads, then route adjustments on top of that.
Obviously ours does not. I'm sure we'll move him around a bit also.

I am sure we will. Maybe Fromm the emergency QB to the back up QB position. If we are lucky enough, we will move him to another team that has multiple QB injuries before the trade deadline.

 

[Jimbo123]

I wonder what Lance is going to do. If he never plays and the Cowboys let him go he probably won't get much more then backup money....I don't know what that looks like maybe 3 years $6M. Then he'll likely be on to his 3rd team. It looks like his best option is to go somewhere with a bad QB situation and try to beat someone out. Or he could go to a good team and hope for an injury. Maybe at this point he's happy with his rookie money and will play the backup card as long as he can. Hopefully he's been learning how to play and with another 3 year contract you hope he can pull a Gino Smith comeback, but without playing time I don't know if that is realistic.

I thought he was more of a scrambling run and gun type QB, but with his injury maybe he has to learn to be a pocket QB now.

His best option if he's released by the Cowboys, would be to go play in the USFL, to get some experience and to showcase his game.

 

[rambo2]

Last August, seemingly out of nowhere, Jerry Jones apparently made a fairly big decision without consulting his HC: He traded a 4th round pick to the 49ers in exchange for the niners former first round QB Trey Lance, who the niners had clearly decided was a mistake. Approximately six months and an entire regular season later, a clear purpose for this trade is still somewhat unclear if not strange.

Trey Lance has yet to take a meaningful snap for the Cowboys and was never on the game day roster this past season. Last off-season, the Cowboys had signed backup QB Cooper Rush to a two year, $5,000,000 contract. Rush has one more year on that deal but it does have a fairly painless out if they choose to release him as an upcoming post June 1 cut.

Also in this mix of head scratchers is the fact that Lance goes into 2024 on the last year of his rookie deal before becoming an unrestricted FA.
So here are some of my questions about the Lance move:

• What was the primary purpose for obtaining Trey Lance? (A successor to Dak, leverage against Dak in contract negotiations, future trade bait with other teams?)
• Are the Cowboys following some kind of plan with him…or not?
• How can the Cowboys know what they have in Lance if they hang on to Cooper Rush as the backup?

Here are some possible scenarios/answers to those questions:

• A- Lance was obtained to give the Cowboys leverage and a possible replacement for Dak should the team decide to move on from Dak. (I don’t see how Lance could be much trade bait if he never sees the field here)
• B- The plan is for Dak to be extended one more year, give time to develop Lance, then make him the starter in 2025. ???? If there’s a plan it’s not at all very clear.
• C- The Cowboys somehow already know what they have (or don’t have in Lance) Or…they are going to find out in TC this year?

Honestly I would be fine moving on from Dak via a trade if this team was willing to do a rebuild similar to what the pack did with Jordan Love last year. The problems there would be 1. Jerry won’t do a “rebuild” and 2. We don’t know if Lance is good enough to hand the keys to the car yet.

So what is the plan for Trey Lance? Is this some grand 3 dimensional chess our GM is playing? Or is it a strange fantasy football move centered on throwing spaghetti on the wall and seeing what sticks? If there is some grand and brilliant plan here, I’m not seeing it.

Thoughts?

The idea is to see what they got in Lance after having McCarthy work with him for a year. They think that they got good value in getting Lance for a 4th rounder.

 

[rambo2]

His best option if he's released by the Cowboys, would be to go play in the USFL, to get some experience and to showcase his game.

I suspect that he will play good enough this summer and Dallas will want to sign him.

 

[Jimbo123]

Jerruh saw dollar signs. He’s knows America love qb controversy from Americas Team.

Jerruh doesn’t make trades to generate winning, he makes trades to generate talk.

There is no controversy.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

I can't either. But Lance has the chance of a lifetime and he should know it. The ball is in his court. Prove you can play in this league or he will be gone. It will be much harder for him to do that if Dak is still around. So if Dak gets extended (he will) it puts Lance is a very tricky situation. At least we will have something to talk about. As if we don't already.

If the cowboys don't play him a lot in TC/preseason, we'll know smoke and mirrors.

Also...and know that I don;t wish injury on ANYONE, but I'm predicting a changing of the guard is almost due, the same way Romo and Dak got their chance. It's a dark prediction but the precedent is there!

 

[noshame]

I am sure we will. Maybe Fromm the emergency QB to the back up QB position. If we are lucky enough, we will move him to another team that has multiple QB injuries before the trade deadline.

I'm sorry I didn't mean to disrupt your Dakness.

 

[America's Cowboy]

Jerry should look to trade Trey Lance and try to get a late 3rd round or at least an early-to-mid 4th round pick in this year's draft. Use that pick to help shore up the many holes this team currently has.