49ers 1st-Round Pick Trey Lance Signs Free Agency Contract

It looks like Trey Lance is not going to have to go to Canada just yet.

The former San Francisco 49ers first-round selection signed a one-year, $6.2 million free agent contract with the Los Angeles Chargers. He and journeyman Taylor Heinicke will battle this summer to see who gets to serve as the backup to starter Justin Herbert.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League had expressed interest in Lance and add them to their exclusive negotiation list. They will maintain the rights to sign Lance in the event he gets cut by the Chargers and Lance looks to go north of the border.

Lance was 2-2 with the 49ers over two seasons in 2021 and 2022. He appeared in eight games, starting four and could just never got on track. He was the third selection overall in the 2021 NFL Draft and two years later, he was chased out of the Bay Area.

Lance got lost in the 49ers quarterback room with the evolution of former seventh-round draft choice Brock Purdy. After Lance was injured, backup Jimmy Garoppolo took over until he was injured in a game against the Miami Dolphins.

Purdy then took over as a rookie and has never looked back since. Purdy led the 49ers to a 5-0 record that season of 2022 and took the 49ers to the NFC Championship Game, where they lost to the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Cowboys traded a fourth-round pick and took a flier on Lance, who never got the opportunity to serve as Dak Prescott's backup. When Prescott was injured last season, Cooper Rush took over and led the Cowboys for the remainder of the season.

Lance gets to return to the West Coast to see if he can revitalize his career which has never taken off.