Former 49ers QB Trey Lance requested trade after losing backup job

After learning he wouldn’t be the team’s first or second option at quarterback, Trey Lance requested the San Francisco 49ers look for a trade partner. On Thursday, the team found that partner, trading Lance to the Dallas Cowboys for a fourth-round selection.

Speaking to the media after the 49ers’ preseason loss to the Chargers, head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch gave further insight into how the trade came together.

On Wednesday, Shanahan told Lance Sam Darnold had won the backup job but that he still wanted Lance on the team. Shanahan told Lance he’d do whatever Lance thought was in his best interest.

“Trey took a little while to think about it but he came back and said he’d like to find another spot if we can. That’s when we started looking into it — us and his agent,” said Shanahan.

Shanahan took full responsibility for Lance’s shortcomings in San Francisco. 

“I always feel like I let Trey down,” said Shanahan. “I wanted him to come here, I believed in Trey, I believed in him before we took him and I’m responsible for that.”

General Manager John Lynch also made it clear that Lance asked, respectfully, for a way out of San Francisco.

“Trey’s like he always is. He’s all in. But he did suggest and ask, hey if we could find the right opportunity that he would appreciate that,” said Lynch.

Lynch said that Lance apologized after the two sides decided to go their separate ways. Calling the apology “classic Trey,” Lynch said the quarterback had nothing to apologize for. 

According to the Athletic, the Cowboys were the first team to make an offer but it wasn’t very compelling. Dallas was not alone in pursuing a trade. Diana Russini reported the Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens and Detroit Lions were interested but most of their packages featured sixth-round picks.

Lynch confirmed the final trade — a fourth-round pick — was an improvement over initial trade packages.

But Lynch was candid that the fourth-round pick was a far cry from what the team gave up to select Lance. In 2021, the 49ers traded three first round picks and a third-roudner to the Miami Dolphins to move up and take Lance with the No. 3 overall pick. The Dolphins eventually turned those picks — through the draft or trades — into wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, wideout Tyreek Hill, linebacker Bradley Chubb and linebacker Channing Tindall.

“We’re not doing cartwheels over it because my preference would have been that it worked out,” said Lynch.

Taking “full accountability” for the 2021 trade, Lynch admitted it would be nice to have the three first-round selections back.

The 49ers will move forward with Brock Purdy as the starter and Darnold as the backup. Journeyman Brandon Allen, playing for his third team in five years, will assume third-string duties.

Lance and the Dallas Cowboys, who the 49ers eliminated from the playoffs in back-to-back years, will visit San Francisco for a primetime showdown on Sunday, October 8th.