49ers fans won’t believe this mock draft trade for Trey Lance

Former cornerback Bryant McFadden came up with a mock draft for CBS Sports, and he has the 49ers engineering a blockbuster trade involving Trey Lance that’s, well… aggressive.

Already here at Niner Noise, we’ve talked about two specific offseason possibilities that have involved the San Francisco 49ers but are notably unlikely.

One of those possibilities is a little more likely than the other: trading quarterback Trey Lance as part of this year’s NFL Draft.

Lance’s trade rumors have grown in recent weeks, particularly in the wake of NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reporting the Niners have been receiving calls about the signal-caller’s availability after the presumption that Brock Purdy, not Lance, will be the team’s starter moving forward.

There are good reasons why Lance won’t be moved, though, including the fact Purdy is still recovering from offseason elbow surgery and may not be ready by Week 1 of the 2023 season.

However, the other possibility is far less likely.

That one involves Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson somehow suiting up for San Francisco.

Yet one mock NFL Draft suggests these two remote possibilities actually take place in tandem.

Former NFL cornerback’s mock draft has 49ers trading Trey Lance and acquiring Lamar Jackson from Ravens

Jackson has been in a standoff with Baltimore with regard to his contract for some time now, and the Ravens placed a non-exclusive franchise tag on him, meaning they would receive at least two first-round picks if another team signed him.

The 49ers don’t have a first- or a second-round pick in this year’s draft, plus it’d be awfully difficult for a Niners team to absorb Jackson’s cap hit.

For those reasons alone, Jackson to San Francisco doesn’t make a lot of sense.

However, CBS Sports’ Bryant McFadden, a former cornerback in the league, figured out a way around those challenges for the 49ers and Ravens by prompting the following trade:

"What if I told you that the San Francisco 49ers traded for Lamar Jackson? In return, the Baltimore Ravens get former No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance, this year’s third-round pick (No. 99) and first-rounders in 2024 and 2025."

The Niners have been without a first-round pick for two years in a row, and it’s hard to fathom giving up picks for the next two years, too.

But the bigger caveat would be the contract, one that McFadden doesn’t take into account with his mock.

San Francisco has both Lance and Purdy making only a shade over $10 million this season combined, while Jackson on the franchise tag is set to make over $32 million, per Over the Cap.

Considering the 49ers have just under $3 million in cap space, currently, acquiring Jackson would only happen with an absolute financial gutting of the current roster. And while he might be the caliber of player who’d easily mandate doing so, it’s hard to see it happening in the context of the Niners already being a Super Bowl-contending team regardless of who will be under center in 2023.