Four years after he was the No. 3 overall pick in the NFL Draft, Trey Lance is without a team, drawing little interest as a free agent this offseason. An opportunity awaits the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback across the border, however, as the Canadian Football League’s Saskatchewan Roughriders added Lance to their negotiation list this week, according to TSN.
The move gives the Roughriders exclusive rights to negotiate a prospective contract with Lance, provided the former North Dakota State standout is interested. CFL teams are permitted to name up to 45 players to the negotiating list, and each of those players are eligible to negotiate a contract as long as they aren’t currently under contract with another team or league. In Lance’s case, as a free agent, he could sign with the Roughriders immediately, if he so desired.
Last seen as the Dallas Cowboys’ No. 3 quarterback, Lance does have family ties to the Roughriders. His father, Carlton, once played one season as a cornerback for Saskatchewan, earning CFL All-Rookie honors.
Trey Lance, meanwhile, has gone from potential face of the 49ers to afterthought backup in his young NFL career. San Francisco traded up to select him in 2021, tabbing him the successor to Jimmy Garoppolo, but injuries limited the Minnesota native to eight games over his first two seasons. He was then traded to the Cowboys after Brock Purdy’s emergence as the 49ers’ unlikely starter, spending the last two years behind both Dak Prescott and Cooper Rush in Dallas, where he appeared in just four total games.
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Chris Trapasso
