49ers depth chart: Analyzing the landscape at quarterback

49ers QB option on the roster: Trey Lance

Trey Lance can best be described as the “winner” in this situation, although it’s pretty unfair to call anyone a winner in such an unfortunate situation, and Lance is hardly going to be happy for Brock Purdy to suffer a bad injury.

But right now, the 49ers will look to Lance as the presumptive starter for OTAs and perhaps camp as well, giving him a leg up and a big second chance to be the franchise player the 49ers envisioned when they traded up to select him.

There have been talks Lance could be traded, sure, but this wouldn’t make any sense. Lance would cost the Niners almost $10 million in dead cap space if he did get dealt.

Now, it’s true that there will be suitors. Not everybody that needs a quarterback will get one, and Lance is an intriguing option. But he comes with risk for teams, and they’re unlikely to part ways with trade capital to make the cap hit worth it.

In short, San Francisco would need to hope for a first-round NFL Draft pick from a desperate team. This is unlikely for Lance, to say the least, and it would require a team to be exceedingly desperate.

Lance may not have shown himself to be the franchise guy, but it’s unfair to call him a bust either. His Week 1 game against the Chicago Bears in monsoonal conditions isn’t exactly a fair representation of the skills of a quarterback, and another preseason can’t hurt either.

Lance will almost certainly be a 49er in 2023, but what he does during the season is up in the air.