The San Francisco 49ers have finally bit the bullet, sending former No. 3 pick Trey Lance to the Dallas Cowboys.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter was the first to report the news, indicating that a fourth-round pick is heading back to San Francisco in the trade.

This moves comes mere days after Sam Darnold passed over Lance as San Francisco’s primary backup quarterback behind Brock Purdy. It also comes after Lance, 23, threw just 102 regular season passes in two seasons since being selected with the third pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

For general manager John Lynch and the 49ers, this has to be seen as a bittersweet move. They exhausted two future first-round picks and change to move up from the No. 3 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, ultimately selecting the North Dakota State product in the process.

Lance got two starts in as a rookie back in 2021, throwing five touchdowns against two interceptions. He was named the 49ers’ starting quarterback heading into his sophomore season. Unfortunately, Lance suffered a season-ending injury early in San Francisco’s Week 2 game against the Seattle Seahawks. He entered training camp battling with the aforementioned Darnold to be Purdy’s top backup. Relegated to third-team duties, it made sense for the 49ers to trade Lance.

“If we can find a landing spot for Trey that is a really good one for him and works for our organization, that’s not something that we’d turn a blind eye to,” Lynch said after Darnold was named QB2.

Apparently, the 49ers found that happy medium with Dallas.

San Francisco 49ers Admit Trey Lance Mistake

Moving off Lance for a mere fourth-round pick doesn’t enable San Francisco to save face. Given what it yielded to acquire him in the first place, it will go down as one of the worst trades in modern franchise history.

With that said, this is a decision the 49ers had to make. Lance deserved a fresh start. Rostering him as an emergency quarterback behind Purdy and Darnold made no sense in the first place.

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In the end, San Francisco ended up paying Lance $27.85 million to throw 102 passes in two seasons with the team. Lynch and Co. swallowed their pride to find the best possible landing spot for the still-young quarterback.

By virtue of this move, Brandon Allen is now slated to make the 49ers’ 53-man roster. A sixth-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars out of Arkansas back in 2016, Allen has started nine games throughout his career. During that span, he’s thrown 10 touchdowns against six interceptions.

Dallas Cowboys Buy Low On Trey Lance

As noted above, Dallas yielded a mere fourth-round pick for Lance in the trade with San Francisco. Owner Jerry Jones and Co. acquire his services while paying the youngster a mere $6.25 million over the next two seasons.

By virtue of this trade, Lance will likely start in Dallas as its No. 3 quarterback behind Dak Prescott and Cooper Rush.

With that said, it was a buy-low proposition for the Cowboys. Worst-case scenario is that Lance doesn’t pan out and Dallas finds itself out a mere fourth-round selection. The best-case scenario is that he develops into a starter-caliber quarterback under offensive-minded head coach Mike McCarthy.

No one has questioned Lance’s athletic ability and arm talent. Instead, it was all about him being extremely raw coming out of a small school. He’ll now have a chance to learn behind a true professional in Prescott moving forward. Fans in Dallas couldn’t have asked for more.