The Cowboys say Trey Lance isn’t getting released, but he sure didn’t help his stock going forward.
It was a rough preseason finale for Dallas Cowboys quarterback Trey Lance in Saturday’s 26-19 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. The former San Francisco 49ers first-round pick and “quarterback of the future” finished the game 33-49 for 323 yards with 11 carries for 90 yards and two total touchdowns. Those numbers on their own might suggest he had a fairly productive showing. However, Lance managed to rack up five interceptions in the process.
Lance received the lion’s share of opportunities at quarterback for the Cowboys this preseason. Playing the majority of snaps in every preseason game, an opportunity afforded to no other quarterback in the league, Lance led the league in several categories this preseason. He finished 73-113 (64.6% completion percentage) for 660 yards with 2 touchdowns, 5 interceptions, and 6 sacks as a passer. As a rusher, he amassed 168 yards and 2 touchdowns on 24 carries.
While there’s reason to be hesitant to draw too many conclusions from preseason play, Lance’s performance remained in line with the story that led the 49ers to move on from him roughly a year ago. Lance’s occasional flashes of potential as a rusher and passer have seemingly been far outweighed by inconsistency, particularly with his management of the pocket and accuracy. The Cowboys were hopeful that a season as a backup, capable of working on his game outside the pressure that had come with his time in San Francisco, and an offseason of reps would allow him to take some strides this season. At least at the moment, though, it seems like Lance still needs to make some significant strides before he can be trusted to lead a playoff contender.
Despite those limitations, Lance remains just 24-years old with fewer than 500 career pass attempts between college and the NFL. While it may not pay immediate dividends, the Cowboys seem committed to giving him a chance to develop with them over time. Owner Jerry Jones has already said Lance will make the team’s 53-man roster.
Cowboys longtime starting quarterback Dak Prescott is slated to become a free agent after this season and cannot be offered the franchise tag. Without the franchise tag, Dallas has limited leverage in negotiations and may have been hoping that Lance would dominate throughout the preseason and give them some leverage in negotiations. However, it’s hard to imagine the threat of moving on to Lance will be viewed as viable will likely need to give Prescott the largest contract in NFL history by a significant margin.