FRISCO — The Dallas Cowboys made headlines near the end of the 2023 offseason with one of the strangest trades in recent NFL history. Dallas traded for then San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance, taking an oddly timed waiver on a relatively unknown player.
Two seasons at The Star, nothing has changed on that front. The Cowboys hoped he would progress enough last offseason to claim the backup job behind Dak Prescott. That never happened.
Finally, the Lance experiment has ended in Dallas. The former Cowboy has officially signed with the Los Angeles Chargers, inking a one-year deal worth up to $6.2 million. He joins Taylor Heinicke in reserve behind Justin Herbert.
Lance had reportedly drawn some interest from the CFL with TSN reporting Wednesday that the Saskatchewan Roughriders had added him to their negotiation list. Instead, Lance gets another chance to jockey for position on an NFL roster.
The Cowboys had hinted that changes could be coming to their own quarterback depth chart earlier this offseason. Those hints immediately followed with tenured backup Cooper Rush joining the Baltimore Ravens just days later.
Since that point, speculation swirled about the Cowboys’ interest in using a late-round draft pick quarterback on a quarterback or exploring their options through a trade. They decided on the latter, acquiring Joe Milton III from the New England Patriots on Thursday.
That move essentially spelled the end for Lance and the Cowboys. Regardless, the former No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 still remains an unknown.
Injury derailed his tenure in San Francisco and most of his time on the field with Dallas came in the preseason. Cowboys fans may remember a brutal five-interception showing in the team’s preseason finale back in August, ironically against the Chargers.
Perhaps the move back to the West Coast gives him a needed change of scenery. Nonetheless, Lance and the Cowboys go their separate ways and close the book on another curious decision.
