The San Francisco 49ers made a bold decision this past weekend, deciding it was time to move on from quarterback Trey Lance. The No. 3 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft was traded to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a fourth-round pick.
It is a decision that has brought about some wide-ranging opinions from people. The 49ers made a huge move up the board in a trade with the Miami Dolphins to have the chance to select Lance. The package they sent to Miami included three first-round picks.
To give up on him after only two seasons as a professional has drawn the ire of many. Some believe this could go down as the worst trade in NFL history as the Dolphins parlayed the first-rounders from the 49ers into Jaylen Waddle, Tyreek Hill and Bradley Chubb.
The 49ers were not going to be able to give Lance the attention and reps to develop that he needs. He was beaten out by Sam Darnold for the backup job and at best would have been the No. 3, battling with Brandon Allen for the scraps.
Former 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, whom Lance was supposed to replace as the franchise signal caller, recently made some comments about the situation involving his former understudy. The now Las Vegas Raiders starter believes the situation was one of many weird ones that have been occurring in San Francisco.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan recently offered a response to the comments made by his former quarterback. “Anytime you trade up to 3rd pick and it doesn’t work out, it’s a weird situation. But that’s the situation. That’s what happened. I don’t think it’s weird. It’s unusual it doesn’t work out,” Shanahan said in response to Garoppolo’s comments about weird situations in the Bay Area.
Shanahan is entitled to his opinion, but it is certainly weird how things unfolded in San Francisco involving Lance. Throwing in the towel on a top pick in that fashion is certainly unheralded, as he didn’t receive much of a chance to prove himself.
Getting out of a bad situation early is usually a good idea, but it is easy to believe that something else is going on in San Francisco. To have Lance fall to possibly No. 4 on the depth chart was certainly shocking after being the No. 3 pick and franchise savior only two years ago.
