Trey Lance trade rumors have taken over the 49ers’ offseason since NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported that San Francisco has received several calls about the third-year quarterback. While the discussion revolves around whether the 49ers should move on from the 2021 No. 3 overall pick, general manager John Lynch on Monday downplayed the imminence of a deal.
Lance, 22, is entering his third NFL season and sits at No. 2 on the 49ers’ depth chart behind a healthy Brock Purdy. Purdy’s apparent place as the team’s presumed franchise signal caller has turned Lance into a potentially expendable piece. Lynch, however, downplayed any trade talks involving the QB.
“Yeah, I think there’s a lot of smoke really,” Lynch said in his pre-draft press conference. “It hasn’t been extremely active, and it’s not like we’ve put it out there that, ‘Hey, we’re taking offers for Trey, call 1-800 to,’ that’s not been the process. People’s job in this is to ask questions. Has that happened on a couple occasions? Sure. It hasn’t been that substantive and like I said, we’re focused as is Trey on his ability to compete and play an integral role on this team. Last year we needed five and so we value every single one of those guys. And we’re excited about our group. We really are.”
It would make sense if any trade talks the 49ers had on Lance didn’t get very far either leading up to or during the draft.
The reality is he’s going into Year 3 and only has four starts under his belt. Lance is also a player whose inexperience was a knock on him in the draft, so the lack of playing time in the NFL makes him a tough evaluation.
Teams looking to acquire him are probably not looking to unload significant draft capital. Meanwhile, the 49ers aren’t in a spot to just give away capable, talented quarterbacks for pennies on the dollar.
Perhaps a team during the draft misses on a quarterback and gets desperate, or a team at some point after the draft needs a young signal caller. At that point there may be a big enough offer to move the 49ers off the QB. For now with nothing substantive in those trade talks though, it appears San Francisco may not get the deal they’re looking for.