49ers could trade away one of these 4 players before Week 1
By Peter Panacy
![San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_2735,h_1538,x_0,y_1008/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/GettyImages/mmsport/42/01h4qj91k2mhncthj3j8.jpg)
The 49ers have shopped players during training camp and the preseason before, and it wouldn't be a surprise if they did so again.
The San Francisco 49ers have an extremely talented roster, one that could potentially earn a trip to the Super Bowl in February of 2024.
Of course, it's still the offseason. There are plenty of position battles to be had, and training camp is still weeks away. That said, general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan are going to end up cutting players who could otherwise start on other teams. As was the case after last year's pre-Week 1 roster cuts, those squads are going to scour over the players the Niners ultimately decide won't make the 53-man bunch.
What if Lynch and Shanahan could engineer a trade or two before the regular season, though?
Keep in mind, other teams don't typically trade for another team's "garbage," so the 53rd player on a 53-man roster isn't exactly going to command a trade.
That said, it wouldn't be overly shocking to see San Francisco try to trade one of these four players before Week 1.
49ers trade candidate No. 4: Trey Lance
It's been quite the journey for quarterback Trey Lance, going from the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft to potentially being the third-string option behind the presumed starter for 2023, Brock Purdy, and the recently acquired free agent, Sam Darnold.
Purdy is still hurt, recovering from offseason elbow surgery, which leaves Darnold and Lance to compete for the primary backup job and potentially the Week 1 starting job.
Despite that being an enticing camp competition, there's no shortage of speculation surrounding Lance and would-be trade scenarios. And while the recent scuttlebutt suggests there wasn't any trade market for Lance this offseason whatsoever, the context could easily change between now and Week 1.
All it would take is another team's starter suffers a serious injury and/or another coach or coordinator feels as if "he can groom Lance" in the right circumstances.
If the 49ers are no longer interested in Lance and are biding their time, he's an easy trade candidate.