Trey Lance will receive another chance in the NFL. The former No. 3 overall pick is signing with the Chargers, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.
This will give the former North Dakota State star an opportunity to become Justin Herbert‘s backup, though Taylor Heinicke also re-signed last month. Lance will join the Bolts on a one-year deal worth up to $6.2MM. This now takes all four of the 2021 first-round QBs who hit free agency off the board, as Justin Fields (Jets), Zach Wilson (Dolphins) and Mac Jones (49ers) had found homes already.
Talk of a potential Cowboys-Lance reunion did commence, but the team made other plans post-Cooper Rush. Dallas let the 2023 trade acquisition hit free agency and has since traded for Joe Milton. Lance came up as a Colts option, but Indy paid up for Daniel Jones on a one-year deal to push Anthony Richardson.
Lance’s career arc has doubled as one of the strangest in modern QB history. His breakthrough college season occurred back in 2019 — a stupendous 28-touchdown, zero-interception slate that brought another Bison Division I-FCS title — but the COVID-19 pandemic nixed the FCS 2020 fall slate. Lance declared for the 2021 draft and commanded considerable interest, leading to a 49ers misstep. Amazingly, San Francisco did not lose much ground thanks to the Lance trade-up — a move that cost two first-round picks and a third — but the dual-threat QB’s fall in San Francisco was certainly a notable development for one of the 2020s’ top teams.
Lance is still just 24, and even after seeing some time following Dak Prescott‘s 2024 hamstring injury, he has thrown just 143 passes in four seasons. Considering how light his college workload was, Lance has simply not seen much action since a dominant season at just 19. The 49ers gave Lance their Week 1 starting job in 2022 but did so after regrouping with Jimmy Garoppolo — a player who spent months on the trade block as Lance readied for stater work. Lance’s ankle fracture in Week 2 of that season moved Garoppolo back into action, and after Brock Purdy‘s stunning emergence, Sam Darnold beat out Lance for San Francisco’s QB2 job in 2023, leading to the Dallas trade.
It is notable that Mike McCarthy did not turn to Lance following Prescott’s injury, instead going with a known commodity (Rush) for most of the season’s second half. Lance started just one game last season, a Week 18 encounter against Washington. Facing a playoff-bound Commanders team, Lance completed 20 of 34 passes for 244 yards. This did involve a fourth-quarter go-ahead drive against a Washington team playing defensive starters (and the Cowboys resting CeeDee Lamb), but Lance had thrown just seven 2024 passes prior to that game.
It appears Lance will have another chance to win a backup gig, one Heinicke (32) held after the Bolts were not satisfied with Easton Stick‘s work during the summer. Heinicke re-signed on a one-year, $2.5MM deal, so it will be interesting to learn the base value of Lance’s pact.
Lance brings upside still, but his ceiling has certainly caved in after underwhelming rookie-contract work. Lance, who rushed for 1,100 yards and 14 TDs during his redshirt-freshman performance, already made $34.1MM on his rookie deal. Jim Harbaugh and Co. will now take a look at the depressed asset on what amounts to a flier.