Dak Prescott on Cowboys’ trade for Trey Lance, “It’s hard to say I was surprised.”
Before you buy your child a Trey Lance Dallas Cowboys jersey, remember this guy couldn’t beat out Sam Darnold for the No. 2 job in San Francisco.
The same organization that traded three first-round draft picks and a third-round pick to draft Lance No. 3 overall in 2021.
The easy answer as to why the 49ers gave up on Lance is they don’t think he can play. The reality for most NFL quarterbacks is that they can’t play well in the NFL.
The Cowboys sent a fourth-round pick to San Francisco to see for themselves if the young man can play.
(Again, he probably can’t.)
Which brings us to the major problem of this latest Dallas Cowboys trade: When exactly is Trey Lance going to play? Or even practice?
Not this year.
On Saturday night, the Cowboys’ concluded their fake season with a game against the Las Vegas Raiders. No clue who won; the Cowboys, I think. Don’t quote me on that.
All I know is Cowboys quarterback Will Grier looked like the child of Joe Montana, Lamar Jackson and Magic Johnson.
Grier will be soon cut because the Cowboys aren’t going to carry four quarterbacks on their roster.
What the Cowboys just did will create a quarterback controversy, because, as Robert Oppenheimer once wrote, “Dak Prescott + Dallas Cowboys = Ratings Gold.”
A former No. 3 overall pick behind Dak Prescott is guaranteed sports talk content for shows from here to Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta).
“I understand it’s a business,” Dak said after the game on Saturday night. “That’s a first round talent, and you’re always trying to make your team better. We’re going to welcome him as we do any teammate.”
Did this trade come as a surprise to the Cowboys’ starting quarterback?
“I’m not surprised by anything any more,” he said; that’s the rare non-answer that is actually honest. “I’ve been in this league eight years, been on this team, it’s hard to say I was surprised, to be honest with you.”
The Cowboys starting quarterback is probably not thrilled about this move, because he’s not stupid. The Cowboys just traded for a player who is potentially an eventual threat for his starting spot.
Lance is not a threat to Dak Prescott this season. Probably not next season, either.
Lance is not a threat this season or next because standard operating procedure by an NFL team during a regular season game week is the starting quarterback gets nearly all of the reps in practice.
The No. 2 gets the leftovers, which ain’t much. Maybe two series during a practice.
That leaves zero time for the No. 3, which is the role Lance will inherit when this team’s roster for Week 1 is set.
Under no circumstances right now should Lance be even a candidate QB2.
No one earned his contract extension on this team more than Cooper Rush, the much kicked-around backup who saved the 2022 season when he led to the Cowboys to a 4-1 record when Prescott suffered an injury in Week 1.
At this point, Cooper Rush is a better NFL quarterback than Trey Lance.
The earliest Lance will really do anything of note for the Cowboys is the offseason, next year.
The Cowboys view this player more like a standard rookie project; he played 19 games in his career at North Dakota State, and eight games in his two seasons with the 49ers.
He’s 23, under contract for three more years and he hasn’t played that much football.
Expect nothing from this young man until next training camp, and the 2024 preseason. That’s when you see will if this young man has a chance.
The fantasy scenario is that the Cowboys just pulled off a Brett Favre deal.
In 1992, the Green Bay Packers sent the Atlanta Falcons a first round pick in exchange for Favre, who at the time was a second-year player with four NFL passes on his resume after he was a second-round pick the previous season.
Favre went to a team where he played almost immediately, and the trade “hit” almost immediately.
Favre played in the NFL from 1991 to 2010, won a Super Bowl, MVP awards, and joined the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.
Again, that’s a fantasy.
Lance is going to a team where he will sit on a bench, and the Cowboys will take this entire season just to get to know him and see how he responds to all things life.
If he shows something next offseason, and then in fall camp, the Cowboys will make their adjustments.
Have no expectations for this trade, because as of today the Cowboys have none.
They gave up a fourth-round pick just for the right to see for themselves if the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 draft can play.
The team that traded so much to acquire him does not think he’s better than Brock Purdy, or Sam Darnold.
This story was originally published August 26, 2023 at 9:45 PM.
