The San Francisco 49ers ended a short-lived era when they traded former No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance to the Dallas Cowboys for a 2024 fourth-round pick, moving forward with Brock Purdy as their starter and Sam Darnold as the backup.

The 49ers have now officially punted on the Lance experiment, giving up on the player they traded three first-round picks to acquire in the 2021 NFL Draft after just four starts.


Did the 49ers make the right move in trading Lance away?



On ESPN's "Get Up" show, reporter Jeff Darlington had some bold words for the 49ers' handling of Lance, proclaiming the organization as "idiots" for their evaluation of Lance, given the outcome.

"Kyle Shanahan is more incentivized than anybody on this planet to make Trey Lance succeed as an NFL quarterback," ESPN's Jeff Darlington said on the "Get Up" show. "The 49ers and Shanahan look like idiots when it comes to their evaluation of Trey Lance because he failed and they gave up so much for him."

Darlington believes that the 49ers shutting the door on Lance, given Shanahan's quarterback pedigree, is quite telling, especially with the timing of the trade.


"They gave up on him," Darlington said. "That tells me all I need to know. I trust Shanahan's on-field assessment more than most people in the NFL. He gave up on Trey Lance. Him giving up on him now is far more significant than him doing it last year."

With Lance now on the Cowboys, the 49ers are rolling with Brock Purdy, Sam Darnold, and Brandon Allen for the 2023 season, with the hopes of winning a Super Bowl, despite starting a different quarterback for the third consecutive season.

Written By:

Rohan Chakravarthi


Writer/Reporter for 49ers Webzone
All articles by Rohan Chakravarthi
@RohanChakrav
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