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Trey Lance was taken by the San Francisco 49ers with the third overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft to be their next franchise quarterback. Entering his third season, Lance is further away than ever from being the 49ers starter.
General manager John Lynch traded three first-rounders to move up to get the quarterback. Now, Lance seems to have one foot out the door in San Francisco after being listed as the third-string quarterback.
Fans took to Twitter to call out Lynch and the 49ers front office for trading up to select Lance:
Other fans note that Lance is set financially, as he inked a $27.85 million rookie deal with the San Francisco 49ers:
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Trey Lance will start the 2023 season behind starter Brock Purdy and veteran Sam Darnold.
The 23-year-old has played in both preseason games thus far with one start. He's thrown for 285 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception in those games.
In an interview with KNBR Radio in San Francisco, head coach Kyle Shanahan hopes Lance is with the team to start the regular season:
“I’m really hoping so. I mean this isn’t a thing where we’re giving up on Trey. This is more of how Brock [Purdy] played in his seven games and that was decided before the season started, and how Sam’s looked.
"They’ve both looked good but we have to make a decision here. You only get so many reps at it. We feel starting about 10 days ago Sam really separated himself, and we got to keep it real in that way."
It remains unknown if Lance will play in the 49ers' preseason finale as he was a no-show at practice.
Could the 49ers trade Trey Lance ahead of the 2023 regular season?
Should Lynch decide to move on Trey Lance, one potential suitor is the Minnesota Vikings. Per Pro Football Talk, both the 49ers and Vikings had talks at this year's NFL combine regarding Lance.
A possible reason is that Minnesota is set to pay Kirk Cousins $30 million this season and he is 35 years old. An issue is that Lance has only started four games in his NFL career and is coming off a season-ending ankle injury in 2022.
Time will tell as to whether other teams will pursue a trade for Lance.
