Giving up on a player that a team invested three first-round picks in after four starts is a wild decision.
That is exactly what the San Francisco 49ers did with Trey Lance by trading him to the Dallas Cowboys for a fourth-round pick. They chose Sam Darnold and Brandon Allen over him.
Lance hardly got a chance to showcase his abilities in games. Sparing he was able to, but not being able to do so in consecutive games was detrimental. Momentum is everything in this sport, and Lance never got that chance to build any. All it could take is for Lance to get a stretch of starts for him to start to look solid for all anyone knows. Should that happen, especially if the current 49ers quarterbacks falter, then the 49ers could look like fools for being done with Lance quickly.
So, will the 49ers end up regretting trading Lance?
I don't think they will. At least, not in the long term. It's mainly due to the fact that they traded Lance to the Cowboys. There's a slim chance he sees the field this year, which is detrimental to his development. The whole reason I advocated for the 49ers to trade him was to do right by him so that he can find a team that will invest time in him. But that isn't going to be the Cowboys. At least not initially. It is going to take time for Lance to become embedded in the Cowboys' playbook.
Until then, he's going to be the No. 3 quarterback, so he misses out on most of a season of developing. Had Lance been sent to a team like the Buccaneers, then I would feel there's a decent chance that Lance makes the 49ers pay. The Buccaneers are starting Bake Mayfield and don't seem too keen on Kyle Trask. A poor first half of the season, which is very likely for the Buccaneers, could've paved the way for Lance to take over as the starter had he been sent there.
Meanwhile, the only way the Cowboys will pave the way for Lance to get on the field is if Dak Prescott and Cooper Rush are injured. New team, same situation for Lance. There could always be a team in the future that allows Lance to play, develop, and showcase his talents, but for now the trajectory of any regret on the 49ers' end looks minimal. The only way the 49ers will come to regret trading him is if Allen actually does see playing time this year, then ends up playing extremely poorly.
That is where the 49ers will be questioned heavily into why they thought Allen was the better option. Still, a change of scenery, even if the situation is similar, can do wonders for Lance. The pressure should be alleviated from him now that he is on a team that didn't invest three first-round picks in him. It's something that Brandon Aiyuk noticed with Lance on his last day at the 49ers facility.
"I think some weight was lifted off him, it looked like, to me," Aiyuk said. "But I think he's in a good spot.
"That's the craziness of this league. We know how it is. But yeah, for sure, seeing him in a Cowboy uniform is different. Seeing the edits and stuff on social media is a little bit weird, but for sure happy for him."
Although, the Cowboys are always in the spotlight, so there will always be that attention on Lance. But again, getting away from the 49ers was needed. A few times when Lance was asked this year about how he has been dealing with this change, he cited "meditation" and "journaling" as a way to keep himself mentally upright. Given the injury and the way the 49ers gave up, it must've taken a toll on him. I'm glad he is in a new spot to feel refreshed at the very least.
I just don't think the 49ers will be regretting trading him anytime soon. And really, I don't think Lance will feel bad that the 49ers traded him either. Sometimes it's time for two sides to separate and pursue different paths.
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