NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport has offered more information following his Wednesday morning report about the San Francisco 49ers and QB Trey Lance.
“It has not worked out like I think anyone had planned,” Rapoport said during an on-air segment about Lance’s tenure with the organization, as shared by David Bonilla of 49ers WebZone.
Rapoport noted Lance’s season-ending ankle injury from this past September which prevented him from notching needed playing time and opened the door for Brock Purdy, the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, to become a rookie sensation. Rapoport also alluded to the fact that some insiders and analysts believe free-agency signing Sam Darnold would defeat Lance in a summer competition as Purdy continues to recover from surgery he underwent to repair the torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.
“Having a No. 3 overall pick, learning a little, getting not very many reps, and being the third-stringer, it just doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Rapoport continued about Lance.
“And it feels to me like teams read the landscape, they kind of read the room, and they say, ‘I wonder if this guy might be available.'”
Also on Wednesday, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio raised eyebrows when he reported that the Minnesota Vikings and 49ers “talked about” Lance during the NFL Scouting Combine earlier this spring. Florio previously mentioned that combine whispers had linked Minnesota quarterback Kirk Cousins with San Francisco before the Vikings restructured Cousins’ contract last month.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if, at some point over the next few months—probably not imminently, but the next few months—someone ended up giving the 49ers enough to trade for Trey Lance because someone, no doubt, would still believe that he could be the franchise guy that he probably won’t be for the Niners,” Rapoport added.
While it remains unknown if Purdy will be cleared to face live defenses at any point during the upcoming season, 49ers general manager John Lynch essentially announced last month the 23-year-old will be the team’s starter when healthy. That leaves Lance, a top-three pick from the 2021 draft with just 102 career NFL regular-season passes on his résumé, likely needing a fresh beginning with a different team in time for him to learn a new offense during training camp upcoming.
