Trey Lance endured a lot of bad luck during his brief time with the 49ers but, just like general manager John Lynch, head coach Kyle Shanahan held himself accountable for their swing on the quarterback failing to pay off.

The 49ers traded Lance to the Cowboys on Friday in exchange for a fourth-round pick after Shanahan named Sam Darnold as the second-string quarterback behind Brock Purdy.

In a press conference following the 49ers' preseason finale with the Chargers, Shanahan explained that Lance had informed them he would like to find a new opportunity after it was confirmed he would be third string with San Francisco.

Dallas provided that opportunity as the Niners parted with the quarterback they acquired after trading three first-round selections to move up to the third overall pick in the 2021 draft. 

His time with the team saw him start just four games owing to injuries, most notably an ankle injury that ended what was supposed to be Lance's first full season as starter in Week 2.

Lance's story with the Niners was one of misfortune, but Shanahan still feels responsible for it not panning out.

"I always feel like I let Trey down," said Shanahan. "I mean, I wanted him to come here. I believe in Trey. I believed in him before we took him, and I'm responsible for that."

Shanahan pointed to a finger injury suffered in a preseason game against the Raiders before Lance's rookie year as a key regret. That incident, Shanahan believes, had an outsized impact on Lance's development.

He added:

"I didn't want to throw him into the heat of battle right away, but I thought he needed to play. So we tried to figure out every way to do that. If I could look back in hindsight, he broke that finger on a helmet in that preseason game versus the Raiders, I wish I didn't put him in a play that had him break his finger, because I think that really hurt him in his first year and not only did it hurt him not getting to mix in much, it hurt him in the practice time because he had to adjust how he threw and things like that, which I think set him back for his second year."

The ankle injury in year two handed the reins back to Jimmy Garoppolo, whose subsequent foot injury afforded an opportunity to Purdy that last year's seventh-round pick took with both hands, leaving Shanahan always feeling sympathy towards Lance.

"When we went into the second year, we gave him every chance to do it," Shanahan continued. "We were going to make an offense that, to me, gave him the best chance to be successful at that time, which we did do. And when you do that, you hope a guy can stay healthy so he can stay out there long enough. But that didn't last long. After that, I always felt for him, and we continue to work with him, but sometimes things just don't work out."

It didn't work out for Lance and the 49ers and, for as much as San Francisco could have done things differently, sometimes luck is against you. That was the case for Lance, who will hope to have much better fortune in his fresh start with the Cowboys.

Key Takeaways from the 49ers’ preseason finale with the Chargers

Brock Purdy was polished on the night of the Trey Lance trade.

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