Former 49ers QB Trey Lance still hasn't taken a snap with Cowboys

At least so far, it doesn't appear as if Trey Lance's situation has improved much by going from the 49ers to the Cowboys.

By no means has the book on former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance, now with the Dallas Cowboys, closed.

One can only hope the 23 year old's future is still very much poised to blossom, at least in a way that won't negatively impact the Niners from here on out.

If you don't know the full story by now, here are the cliff notes. San Francisco gave up a ton of capital to take Lance at No. 3 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft. But Lance never became the franchise's centerpiece as was expected, and the 49ers ultimately pulled the plug on his development by trading him away to Dallas at the end of the 2023 preseason a little over two years into his pro career.

Disastrous for the 49ers? Perhaps, especially considering they recouped a mere fourth-round pick after spending multiple Round 1 selections back in 2021.

Except the Niners found their new franchise guy, Brock Purdy, while also settling on another former third-overall pick, Sam Darnold, to be the backup. San Francisco is just fine, which is why trading Lance away didn't leave as big a dent as initially feared.

But, is Lance better off with the Cowboys?

Trey Lance would have been 3rd string with 49ers, is still 3rd string now with Cowboys

There are a number of possible reasons why Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wanted to trade for Lance, and it's feasible one of those is to motivate starting quarterback Dak Prescott to play better after leading the league in interceptions last year with 15.

Yet Lance didn't exactly improve his lot by making the switch from California to Texas. Whereas he would have been the No. 3 option on the depth chart behind Purdy and Darnold, Lance is now No. 3 on the depth chart behind Prescott and backup quarterback Cooper Rush.

In fact, Lance hasn't even taken a regular-season snap with his new team because he's been inactive for both weeks, only relegated to donning a uniform to serve as his team's third-string "emergency" quarterback in accordance to the new rule the NFL adopted during the offseason.

Related story: Biggest winners, losers from Trey Lance trade to Cowboys

One Purdy's injury in the NFC Championship game last January helped prompt.

Perhaps Lance finally gets his footing as time moves on this season, and maybe he'll ascend the depth chart in Dallas' Week 3 game against the Arizona Cardinals.

Or, it'll merely be more of the same for Lance as a third-string option, not unlike what it would have been in San Francisco if it weren't for the trade.

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