The Dallas Cowboys — and the rest of the NFL — may be getting their first extended look on Sunday at former No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance. Since arriving in Dallas, Lance has largely operated as the third-string emergency quarterback behind Dak Prescott and Cooper Rush, though he has been backing up Rush since Prescott suffered a season-ending hamstring tear earlier this year.
In the regular-season finale, according to NFL Media, Lance is expected to get a lot of work. Head coach Mike McCarthy declined to name a starter for the game, though Rush has been preparing as though it’s “business as usual” and Lance is preparing to play.
The San Francisco 49ers traded up to select Lance with the third pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. He sat for most of his rookie season behind Jimmy Garoppolo, making two spot starts but otherwise operating as the backup and taking the very-occasional short yardage run.
The Niners handed Lance the starting job the following offseason, expecting to trade Garoppolo. Instead, they were unable to find a trade partner and came into the season with Garoppolo as Lance’s backup. Lance then broke his ankle early in Week 2, so Garoppolo resumed the starting role. When Garoppolo himself went down with an injury, Brock Purdy stepped into the lineup and never relinquished the job.
At the tail end of training camp in 2022, the Niners sent Lance to Dallas in exchange for a fourth-round pick. The Cowboys have kept him on the bench ever since — even as they saw their starter lost to a season-ending injury, and even as they were eliminated from the playoffs. Now, it appears we might finally get a chance to see Lance in action for the first time in quite a while.
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