Trey Lance is no longer a member of the San Francisco 49ers. He is now a member of the Dallas Cowboys. Adam Schefter broke the news on Friday that the Niners are sending the former No. 3 overall pick to the Cowboys in exchange for a fourth-round pick.
RELATED 49ers trading Lance to Cowboys for a 4th-round draft pick
Considering what the 49ers gave up for Lance in 2021—three first-rounders and a third-rounder to the Miami Dolphins to move up in the draft—this is being labeled as one of the worst trades in NFL history.
There is some surprise that the 49ers managed to recoup a fourth-round pick for Lance, whose stock has never been lower. In one year, the third-year quarterback went from the Niners' Week 1 starter to losing the QB2 job to Sam Darnold.
Here are some of the first reactions by members of the media.
Man… the lack of ego from John Lynch and Shanahan here is truly rare.
They took a MASSIVE SWING to get this guy… the whole world was watching and reacting to it.. now they're saying "Yeah… we got it completely wrong" officially
Hopefully Trey figures it all out. https://t.co/eKC4iwb8Qz
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) August 25, 2023
A little surprised the Niners found a taker for Lance's contract.
49ers go down with an all-time draft bust in Lance, but made up for it by finding Purdy https://t.co/PcyJlXbpvy
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) August 25, 2023
The 49ers, a team with a good scouting history, went all in on Lance as their future.
— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) August 25, 2023
That was then; this is now.
They now turn three first-round picks into a future fourth-rounder.
The Cowboys have two years left on a cheap contract to see what they have.#Lance
On the other hand, the 49ers get only a 4th round pick back from Lance even though they could have kept him dirt cheap and it's not like Montana and Young are on the depth chart.
The got back the " we wanted the distraction over" compensation.
— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) August 25, 2023
The Cowboys are sending their slotted 2024 fourth-rounder to the Niners for QB Trey Lance, per sources (@AdamSchefter first on the trade). Pretty tough miss for San Francisco—and makes it even more important that they're right on Brock Purdy.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) August 25, 2023
Trey Lance played a total of 8 games with the 49ers.
That is the fewest games played by a top 5 pick with the team he debuted with since the start of the common draft era in 1967.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) August 25, 2023
The costs of busting on a top 3 pick are not what they were in the JaMarcus Russell/Sam Bradford era, but they are still considerable.
— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) August 25, 2023
Beyond the huge value of wasted first-round picks, the 49ers paid Lance $27 million for a handful of games played.
Who is more wrong, the 2021 49ers, who gave up a king's ransom for Trey Lance, or the 2023 49ers, who gave up on Trey Lance?
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) August 25, 2023