Three years ago, the San Francisco 49ers gave up a good amount of draft capital to receive the No. 3 pick, which they used on Trey Lance, a quarterback from North Dakota State University.
It was thought that perhaps he could develop into an improvement over Jimmy Garoppolo, their starting quarterback at the time, but injuries and a lack of on-the-field time resulted in an inconclusive report card for him.
As it turned out, San Francisco found their franchise QB in Brock Purdy, who was the last player taken in the 2022 draft, and he made Lance expendable.
Months after trading Lance to the Dallas Cowboys, 49ers general manager John Lynch made a comment about the team’s move to initially get Lance, per ProFootballTalk.
“And yeah, we gave up a lot. We did it for reasons that we had, and motivations, and it didn’t work out. But thank God for Mr. Irrelevant (Purdy). He helped us,” Lynch said.
John Lynch: Trey Lance didn’t work out, but thank God for Mr. Irrelevant. https://t.co/kZPZ1RJZir
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) April 22, 2024
Lance played in just six games as a rookie, but he flashed enough potential to be named the starter ahead of the 2022 campaign.
Alas, he suffered a season-ending injury in Week 2, forcing Garoppolo to return to his starting spot, until Garoppolo went down with a season-ending injury of his own in Week 13.
Perhaps it was the football gods’ way of forcing San Francisco to start Purdy and realize that he was the best of the three, and he took the league by storm almost right away.
Since then, Purdy has led the 49ers to two NFC Championship Game appearances and a spot in Super Bowl LVIII, and he was at or near the top of the league in several statistical categories last season.
Now, Lance finds himself second on Dallas’ depth chart behind Dak Prescott, and given the uncertainty with Prescott’s contract situation, there is always a chance Lance could find himself under center for the Cowboys not too long from now.
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Brock Purdy Breaks Silence On Brandon Aiyuk Trade Rumors