National outlet speculates a Trey Lance trade is destined at some point, but not soon
The San Francisco 49ers quarterback situation, though with different names, remains somewhat the same as the 2022 quarterback carousel.
As things change — and for the San Francisco 49ers, they have — things tend to stay the same.
One drum that is beating a familiar sound is the quarterback controversy. With Trey Lance, Brock Purdy, and Sam Darnold all possessing qualities that could make them legitimate starters in the 49ers' offense, trying to figure out who the starter will be, come the 2023 season could make your head explode.
The team's general manager John Lynch came out in support of Purdy being the starter by how he played at the end of the 2022 season. Still, Lynch also spoke highly of Lance, who ended his first season as the starter before it got going.
"I think Brock has earned the right with the way he played that he's probably the leader in the clubhouse," said Lynch then, via ESPN. "If we were to line up, he'd probably take that first snap."
Lynch added about Lance and Darnold: "We're really excited about where Trey is at with his progress from his injury… He's been working really hard. Love the opportunity to be able to bring in Sam Darnold and his skill set. We think it's a really good fit. So we like that [quarterback] room a lot."
Thus, the quarterback speculation has already started for the 49ers all over again. In a recent mailbag with Matt Barrow, a senior writer at The Athletic who covers the 49ers, he revealed that the team could be looking to shop Lance at some point.
And with the NFL Draft nearing, it is easy to speculate that if the 49ers do trade Lance, it would be on Day 2 of the draft, but according to Barrow, a trade involving the former crown jewel of the 49ers' quarterback room would take place in 2024.
"My sense is that after seeing Purdy and Lance get injured — a lot — in their brief careers, the 49ers need numbers more than anything else this season," Barrow writes. "That’s why I don’t think anyone gets moved in 2023. But the overall point is that nothing has been determined, no conclusions have been reached and all scenarios are in play.
"That’s why a 2024 trade seems a lot more likely than one in 2023. It would allow Lance to increase his value."
And needing to increase his value is a real issue. Lance played in one-and-a-quarter games during the 2022 season. The one full game he played in the 49ers lost and he possessed a 50.3 quarterback rating.
The issue with Lance has always been game reps. Coming out of college that was the main gripe scouts had with his game. It is also why the 49ers were so eager to go after him. The lack of game reps meant the organization could mold Lance to be the quarterback they wanted. However, the problem with that line of thinking was that it assumed Lance was a decent quarterback, to begin with.
His lack of availability has hurt the allure that once existed around his career. And with Purdy's late surge at the end of the last season, it will be difficult to see a path forward for Lance to be a starter for the 49ers soon (outside of injury).
Working in Lance's favor is the fact he's been throwing recently. A video surfaced on Twitter and it sent the internet into a tizzy. Some have even speculated that Lance's mechanics are more functional compared to when he went down in 2022.
The video of Lance garnered so much attention that The Athletic’s David Lombardi synced a video of Lance throwing last training camp with the video above:
It is hard to really tell if Lance worked on his mechanics. The good news, at least for him, is that the team expects him to be a full go for offseason workouts, giving him a chance to gain some ground on Purdy who is still rehabbing from elbow surgery.
Lance will most likely split reps with Darnold. Once Purdy gets thrown into the situation, that is when things will get a bit more complicated.
But water always finds its level. The cream always rises to the top. The best quarterback will win the job. And if that isn't Lance, the 49ers appear more than willing to shop him for the right price.
