Some have openly wondered throughout the summer if Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones could view quarterback Trey Lance as a future replacement for starter Dak Prescott as Prescott remains on track to reach free agency after the 2024 season.
According to Todd Archer of ESPN, Lance is still beneath career backup Cooper Rush on the Dallas depth chart.
“Rush is still in the lead to be Prescott’s backup,” Archer wrote on Sunday night, “but Lance is guaranteed $5.3 million this season in the final year of his rookie contract.”
Lance hasn’t played in a meaningful game since he suffered a gruesome ankle injury while with the San Francisco 49ers in September 2022. The Cowboys acquired him from San Francisco in late August of last year but then buried him on the depth chart as an unused backup for a redshirt season. However, whispers emerged in July suggesting that changes to Lance’s footwork had helped him improve his overall mechanics.
Lance made his Dallas preseason debut in what became a 13-12 loss at the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. He completed 25-of-41 passes for 188 yards with no touchdowns, no interceptions and three sacks to go along with a team-high of 44 rushing yards on six attempts.
Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy is expected to give Lance plenty of playing time in this coming Saturday’s exhibition matchup at the Las Vegas Raiders.
“You want to see him running the offense at a high level,” McCarthy said about Lance following Sunday’s outing. “The footwork and some of the things we’re asking him to do conceptually are new. We just need work. We just need as much time as we can. I know I say that every time I talk about him, but he’s making good progress. He’s definitely wired the right way. He’s a great athlete. Just a lot of work to do.”
The third overall pick of the 2021 draft, Lance made only four starts during his San Francisco tenure before he lost the job to injury and to 2022 rookie sensation Brock Purdy. Last summer, the 49ers awarded Sam Darnold their primary backup job before they traded Lance to Dallas.
Jon Machota of The Athletic noted last week that Lance had “been up and down” in training camp practices this summer, and that trend continued against the Rams. Archer pointed out that Lance had at least two bad misses at SoFi Stadium and was guilty of “some indecision” on plays that ended as sacks.
Meanwhile, it was reported ahead of the weekend by The Athletic’s Jeff Howe that “the Cowboys badly want to keep Prescott through the duration of another long-term contract” but weren’t “close” to signing him to an extension at that time. It’s assumed Prescott wants to reset the market via a deal handed to him by Dallas or as a free agent in March 2025.
Lance clearly is no threat to a healthy Prescott at this stage of the process. The 24-year-old will try to give Jones and Co. something to think about when Dallas faces the Raiders at Allegiant Stadium this Saturday.
