Trey Lance has been within the Cowboys’ system for nearly a yr, but the previous No. 3 overall pick has not passed through a preseason slate along with his current team yet. While Lance joins a lot of the 2021 first-round QB quintet in being headed toward free agency, the Cowboys want to offer the previous 49ers draftee an prolonged look come August.
Set to resume a contest with Cooper Rush for Dallas’ No. 2 QB gig, Lance will likely see more time in the course of the team’s three-game preseason slate. The Cowboys know what they’ve in Rush, who has spent almost his entire seven-plus-year NFL profession with the team. As Rush goes into one other camp with the Cowboys, he could also be poised to wind up in an emergency role — because of one other NFL rule change this offseason — in Yr 8.
Although a recent assessment of the Rush-Lance matchup pegged the more experienced option as leading the competition for the backup job, that might change once the team sets its 53-man roster. Lance is more likely to be the second QB the Cowboys carry once they set their initial 53, The Athletic’s Jon Machota notes (subscription required).
The team is unlikely to place three QBs on its energetic roster, and Machota adds the previous high-end prospect would wish to “look awful” during camp and the preseason to not be Dak Prescott‘s top backup. This could stand to make Rush more of an insurance option, because the Cowboys hope their August 2023 trade pickup has one other level to succeed in during their upcoming training camp.
It might be unsurprising to see the Cowboys prioritize Lance upon setting their roster, even when it got here on the expense of Rush’s roster spot. Not yet a vested veteran, Lance would should be exposed to waivers if the Cowboys placed Rush as Prescott’s only backup. Rush is a vested vet, and given his familiarity with the team, the previous UDFA being open to sticking around because the emergency option on the practice squad seems realistic.
A variety of teams will probably take this route, because the NFL has increased flexibility to stash a third-string QB on its taxi squad. While the 49ers’ experience within the 2022 NFC championship game prompted the league to reintroduce the emergency rule in 2023, its offseason rule change will provide teams more flexibility this yr. Clubs can elevate a practice squad QB onto their 55-man gameday rosters as over and over as they select, which might allow the Cowboys to maintain Lance from the waiver wire while Rush resides on their 16-man P-squad.
Joining Zach Wilson, Justin Fields and Mac Jones as 2021 first-round quarterbacks to be traded over the past yr, Lance is tied to a $5.3MM guarantee. He spent the 2023 season as Dallas’ No. 3 QB, with the team carrying three on its roster last yr. As expected, the Cowboys passed on Lance’s fifth-year option ($22.41MM) in May. Lance, 24, has not thrown a regular-season pass since September 2022, when a broken ankle led to the 49ers changing moving to a course that eventually involved Brock Purdy making a shocking leap from Mr. Irrelevant to productive starter.
Lance, who famously only began one season at North Dakota State on account of the COVID-19 pandemic nixing the autumn schedules for Division I-FCS teams, has only thrown 102 NFL passes. The emergency QB rule would allow the Cowboys the possibility to effectively keep Rush as their backup come Week 1 — within the event Lance truly isn’t ready — but they plan to offer the younger option every probability to overtake the 30-year-old vet in August.
