49ers NFL Draft: 4 teams that regret not taking Trey Lance
By Peter Panacy
The 49ers traded up in the 2021 NFL Draft to ensure no one else grabbed Trey Lance, and these other four teams probably wish that didn’t happen.
San Francisco 49ers rookie quarterback Trey Lance still remains a virtual unknown after being selected at No. 3 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft.
The third of three consecutive signal-callers drafted last April, and one of five taken in all of Round 1, Lance remains the only quarterback not starting for his respective team, perhaps an indication the Niners are fully planning on deploying him no sooner than 2022 once they’re fully done with the veteran, Jimmy Garoppolo, who has retained his starting bid for all but one game this season.
As such, Lance remains a great unknown, a high-profile draft pick without the year-one on-field takeaways the remaining first-round quarterbacks have all displayed in great detail up to this point.
Perhaps that’ll make some teams feel better about not having the chance at drafting him.
At the same time, though, these four squads are probably still cringing a bit knowing fully well San Francisco made the aggressive move-up to No. 3 to take Lance.
No. 4: Denver Broncos made a move for a QB after 49ers traded up for Trey Lance
It’s been a while since the Denver Broncos have had a quality quarterback, and it appears as if it’s been a year-to-year search for one ever since the days Hall of Famer Peyton Manning was donning the blue and orange.
Denver was indeed ready to give up on its most recent high-profile draft investment, Drew Lock, after his turnover-prone ways overshot the threshold in 2020.
Interestingly enough, though, the Broncos traded with the Carolina Panthers for quarterback Teddy Bridgewater a day before the 2021 NFL Draft kicked off on April 29, suggesting Denver knew, at No. 9 overall, a player of Lance’s caliber wasn’t going to come close to falling to that spot, especially after the 49ers traded up some weeks before.
Granted, this assumes the Broncos were also out on fellow Round 1 quarterbacks Justin Fields, selected at No. 11 overall by the Chicago Bears, and Mac Jones, whom the New England Patriots took at No. 15.
Had Denver not settled with Bridgewater, it surely would have been fully in play for Lance with the hope he fell to No. 9 or at least a comfortable trade-up range.
At least cornerback Patrick Surtain II has worked out well for the Broncos.