Jeff Darlington Says Tre Lance’s Attitude Made 49ers Look Like Ducks – NBC Sports Bay Area & California

The 49ers gambled on quarterback Trey Lance’s ceiling high in the 2021 NFL Draft. After four starts and three training camps, the 23-year-old was traded to the Dallas Cowboys on Friday, marking the end of Lance’s era in the Bay that never got off the ground.

An NFL reporter blasted San Francisco on Monday for fumbling over Lance’s evaluation and development.

“Kyle Shanahan has more motivation than anyone on the planet to make Tre Lance succeed as an NFL quarterback,” ESPN’s Jeff Darlington said on the show.I wake upShow. “The 49ers and Shanahan look like idiots when it comes to their assessment of Trey Lance because he failed and they gave up so much for him.”

It wasn’t cheap to trade in and pick Lance up. The 49ers sent three first-round draft picks and a third down to the Miami Dolphins to move up nine spots and Lance to finish third overall. The Dolphins made infamous use of those acquired picks to draft wide receiver Jaylen Waddle and trade stars Tyreek Hill and Bradley Chubb.

Brock Purdy’s rise from Mr. Irrelevant to the 49ers’ new long-term answer under center is the biggest reason the organization has been able to move on from Lance so quickly.

All reports indicated that Lance continues to improve in training camp. General Manager John Lynch recently said that Lance has “made amazing leaps and bounds” this year. But still, the 49ers were clearly more comfortable with Sam Darnold and Brandon Allen supporting Purdy this season than Lance.

“They gave it up,” said Darlington. “That tells me everything I need to know. I trust Shanahan’s assessment on the field more than most people in the NFL. He gave up Tre Lance. His giving him up now is so much more important than he did last year.”

Lance now joins the crowded quarterbacks room in Dallas as he trails Dak Prescott and backup Cooper Rush — who went 4-1 as a starter last year — on the depth chart. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones doesn’t expect Lance to contribute much to the Cowboys this season. Until next year is a question mark.

“The funny thing about this conversation from the cowboy’s point of view is that we can either make it sound like the coolest move in the world, or a really weird move when it’s, frankly, somewhere in the middle,” Darlington said Monday. It’s possible that Jerry Jones would be saying, “Are we going to use a fourth-round pick in this upcoming draft if we’re evaluating Tre Lance as a potential backup quarterback?” Yes, we will.”

“And I think that’s all there is to it.”

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