Former No. 3 Pick Now on Cowboys ‘Roster Bubble’ for 2024: Expert.
The offseason trade that sent Trey Lance, the third overall pick in 2021, from the 49ers to the Cowboys is still strange to the team. Not only has Lance not played a snap for the team this season, but he has also solidified his position as the team’s third wide receiver, behind starter Dak Prescott and backup Cooper Rush, who has filled in for Prescott six times thus far. Lance is so low-key that at the trade deadline, he hardly made an appearance in Cowboys rumors.
Lance is 23 years old, in his third NFL season and needs to get on the field. He has thrown just 56 NFL passes in eight career appearances.
This has been, essentially, a wasted year in Lance’s development. Now, the Cowboys, after having coughed up a fourth-round pick for Lance in August, are going to have to make a choice about whether to keep him around or not. According to the contract website Spotrac, Lance is very much on the “roster bubble” for the Cowboys in 2024.
As NFL contract expert Mike Ginnitti wrote, “All of Trey Lance’s $5.3M salary for 2024 is fully guaranteed. It’s hard to imagine he’s tradeable (again), so Dallas either makes him an above average paid QB2 next season, or pays him to leave.”
Keeping Trey Lance Would Waste Cap Space
These are not appetizing options for the Cowboys. They could keep Rush on board as the backup, with an option for one year and $2.25 million. That’s a much cheaper way to go than cutting Rush loose and bumping Lance up to No. 2, and it’s also the choice that encourages more stability—Rush has been with the Cowboys for 10 of his 12 NFL seasons.
The Cowboys could try to trade Rush again, but that would mean he would have been off the field for almost two years when the 2024 season began, and as Ginnitti points out, no one would want to part with assets for Trey Lance. In October, SI.com’s Mike Fisher reported on Cowboys rumors indicating the team does intend to keep Lance in place. However, keeping Rush would mean jettisoning Lance. And that would mean paying him $5.3 million and losing the 2024 fourth-rounder for a player who did absolutely nothing for the franchise all season.
“The Cowboys, two sources tell CowboysSI.com, do not plan to exercise the fifth-year option on Lance in the spring of 2025, as that would cost about $25 million. … but do plan on finding a way to keep him in Dallas,” Fisher wrote.
Cowboys Rumors Will Focus on Dak Prescott
In the summer, back when the Cowboys made the surprising deal for Lance, the theory was that he could be used as a bargaining chip when the team sat down to work out a new deal with Prescott, who is due a sizable contract extension. The thinking was that the Cowboys could claim confidence in Lance as their quarterback of the future and, therefore, not be pressured to overpay Prescott.
That strategy has failed, though, as Prescott has enjoyed an MVP-caliber season despite a few unsatisfactory performances over the last two weeks. The Cowboys will have to pay Prescott generously, and the idea that the Cowboys would bench Prescott in favor of Trey Lance would not be accepted by Prescott’s representatives or any other sentient entity with even a passing knowledge of football.
Rush is not likely to go away, and Prescott is not going anywhere. Lance, who is currently firmly on the roster bubble, will be the one to depart.
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