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San Francisco 49ers ready to part ways with Trey Lance?

By Mohamed Salad

NFL trade rumors: Trey Lance #5 and Brock Purdy #13 of the San Francisco 49ers on the field before the game against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field on December 15, 2022 in Seattle, Washington. The 49ers defeated the Seahawks 21-13. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images)
NFL trade rumors: Trey Lance #5 and Brock Purdy #13 of the San Francisco 49ers on the field before the game against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field on December 15, 2022 in Seattle, Washington. The 49ers defeated the Seahawks 21-13. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images) /
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When the San Francisco 49ers traded a bucket load of draft picks to move up to third in the 2021 NFL Draft to select 20-year-old quarterback, Trey Lance, it seemed that they had found their guy for the future. But unfortunately, it hasn’t panned out that way.

The plan was always for Lance to sit behind veteran quarterback Jimmy Garappolo for a year to learn and get comfortable with a very complex Kyle Shanahan offensive scheme. But in week four, after a below-par half by the starter Garappolo, Shanahan turned to his young franchise player to lead his team out in the second half.

However, just like any rookie, he struggled a little and that was to be expected. But he certainly showed flashes of why San Francisco decided to draft him even though he only had 17 starts in college as a North Dakota Bison.

In his first half of NFL football, Trey Lance threw for 157 yards and two touchdowns while gaining a passer rating of 117.1, he also added 41 yards on the ground. Lance went on to start two games in his rookie season, throwing for a total of 603 yards, five touchdowns, and just two interceptions to go with 168 yards on the ground and a rushing touchdown.

2022 was supposed to be Lance’s coming-out party, but it didn’t go as planned. In his week two, Lance fractured his ankle ruling him out for the season. With the unlikely emergence of rookie Brock Purdy, the last pick of the 2022 draft, it seems as though two years removed from being the third overall pick, Trey Lance is no longer in favor, and that’s probably why the 49ers are fielding calls for the quarterback.

With the 49ers currently operating in a ‘win now’ window, it seems that they wouldn’t mind parting ways with Lance to try to go all in and win a championship in 2023. Maybe they feel they don’t have time to wait for him to develop and think they can get good value for him, who knows? But what we do know is, there is a promising young quarterback on the market that could be the face of a franchise at some point in the future.