Trey Lance is still fighting for the San Francisco 49ers' QB2 job behind incumbent starter Brock Purdy. He may have lost some ground to Sam Darnold during his ho-hum preseason outing against the Las Vegas Raiders. Still, he'll get another opportunity on Saturday against the Denver Broncos.
What if things continue to slip away for Lance? It seems unlikely that the 49ers would release the third-year quarterback. And it's not just because they invested heavily in him, sending multiple first-round picks and more to the Miami Dolphins to move up to draft him. Cutting him would be financially irresponsible.
Lance carries a $9.3 million salary-cap hit in 2023, per OverTheCap.com. If they cut him, the 49ers would be in the hole $10.8 million.
What about a trade? First, you would have to find an interested team. While the former No. 3 overall pick's stock has never been lower, there is still potential for the young player in someone's system, so there could be interest. Quarterbacks, especially young, smart ones, are a valuable NFL commodity. Sometimes it's worth a gamble.
One Bay Area reporter speculated on what the 49ers might get in return for Lance, should they be able to drum up some interest. Trading Lance would still produce a dead cap hit to the tune of just over $5.5 million. However, it would also save nearly $3.8 million in salary-cap space.
"What could the 49ers get for Lance?" Tim Kawakami asked in a recent feature for The Athletic. "In this scenario, I think they'd likely take a conditional fourth-round pick (based on 2023 playing time) in a blink. If I'm a QB-needy team without Super Bowl-or-bust pressures, I'd make that trade."
Some fans would take that in a heartbeat—as if the pick actually belonged to them. It's a significant loss on the initial investment, but something in return would be better than nothing. After all, fan (and media) criticism toward Lance has never been higher.
Kyle Shanahan was asked about the negativity surrounding his young quarterback. What did the head coach have to say about that?
"It just goes with the territory," Shanahan told reporters on Wednesday. "It goes with it for quarterbacks. It goes with it for anybody who's a high draft pick, but especially a quarterback. That's one of the tough things, I think, for that position, but also for high draft picks."
While players try their best to block the outside noise, that's not always easy. Concerned family and friends may reach out, letting the player know what is being said.
"Trey is extremely smart, very socially aware," Shanahan said. "He knows how the world works. And so, he does his best, which I think he does a damn good job of trying to block all that out and just focus on getting better. And I think that's what he has done so far."
Oh, and if you haven't read Kawakami's feature on the 49ers' quarterback situation yet, the portion about the shaky relationship between Shanahan and Jimmy Garoppolo is riveting enough alone to carve out a few moments of your time.