San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York spoke with reporters on Tuesday at the NFL owners' meetings in Arizona. He was asked about one of his quarterbacks, Trey Lance. In 2021, the team made a blockbuster move, trading significant draft capital to move up to the No. 3 overall pick, where they selected Lance.
Two years later, Lance has started only four games and has been surpassed on the depth chart by last year's "Mr. Irrelevant," the No. 262 overall pick, Brock Purdy.
Despite the cost of acquiring Lance, York doesn't regret the decision to trade up and still believes in Lance's potential.
"I wouldn't change anything that we've made about the decision with Trey," York told reporters. "I think Trey has a chance to be great, but it's a bonus when you get somebody at the end of the seventh round that ends up coming in and being very impactful for your team.
"I've said it multiple times with quarterbacks, whether it was Alex [Smith] and [Colin Kaepernick], watching Jimmy [Garoppolo], and Jimmy and Trey, and now Brock and Trey and Sam [Darnold], you can't have enough good quarterbacks.
"I wish that we can go back in time and Steve Bono could be my third-string quarterback behind two future Hall of Famers. That's fantastic. That gives you a chance to win and be very, very successful in this league.
"Again, you can't worry about, 'Well, Trey hasn't played as many games as we would have liked.' It's not his fault. He got injured."
None of the 49ers' three quarterbacks will cost the team very much this season. Two of them, Lance and Purdy, remain on their rookie deals. York understands that keeping expenses down in the quarterback room has allowed San Francisco to pursue talent like cornerback Charvarius Ward last year or defensive tackle Javon Hargrave this year.
"There's a delta in what you're spending on your quarterback versus what somebody else is spending on their quarterback," York continued. "And I hope that one of these three guys gets a massive, massive extension with the San Francisco 49ers at some point. But until that, we're going to make sure that we build this thing around a young quarterback with a very team-friendly contract.
"And again, the ultimate goal is to win a championship. It's not to say that this draft pick or this decision was the perfect decision. It's to win a Super Bowl."
