Man, this team is really weird. It seems that every guy the brain trust trades up for (Trey Lance, Trey Sermon, Javon Kinlaw, Brandon Aiyuk, Reuben Foster, Joe Williams) has either been dog-housed for months, cratered, been cut, traded, or otherwise washed out.
Word out of camp is Sam Darnold has been named the #2 quarterback. Throw in the fact that Trey Lance isn’t at practice today, so the prevailing sentiment is the 49ers are in the process of trading him.
Man, I don’t know about this. Unless some given team is a) desperate or b) crazy, I don’t see the 49ers getting much for Lance. Unless that last showing really wowed someone. We would take an $11 mill dead cap hit trading him, and if he really does stink on ice, we won’t sign his 5th year option and he becomes a free agent.
I mean, really. Unless they get a 2nd and 3rd at the minimum, trading Lance would be a waste of the time and effort already invested in him. Gauging by the reaction to last weekend’s comeback vs Denver, the players love Lance, and everyone around him thinks the world of him. So, this could piss off a lot of guys.
And as we know all too well, the Niners can’t keep a good QB up for a whole season (think Jimmy G in 2019 and most of 2021) and they continue to ignore the glaring problems with the offensive line. The situation seems to follow that regardless of who is where, Lance would get some starts.
I think this would be a terrible move. But hey, that’s why I write blog instead of running a football team.
San Francisco 49ers Forever 
This WILL fuck up the team if they trade Lance for nothing.
No doubt Chuck your banking your season on a guy Purdy coming off a major injury and freaking Darnold the poor man’s version of Andy Dalton with just as many int’s then TD’s are Damm close to that stat?
Meanwhile day 29 of Nick BOSA doesn’t thrill me either..Guess he’s waiting on KC’s Chris Jones contact first who says isnt close and willing to sit out the 1st 8 games seriously?
The 49ers are screwing themselves into a corner with no way out. They pretty much put themselves in position to get nothing for Lance.
Plus, banking on Darnold is a fool’s errand. Oh well. I think they are gonna piss off the locker room, but what do I know? And, based on how little they paid attention to the O line, Darnold WILL play.
The players had no idea what was going on, so there you go.
Chuck what you seem to be ignoring is that Lance is worth nothing the MOMENT THEY MADE HIM A #3. Go back in history and find me a QB like this who was either a #1-3 pick or a QB who had 3 first round picks traded for him who ultimately got bounced embarassingly to #3 on the depth chart before flying high to a starting position somewhere. It’s never fucking happened. And the Niners did this to him.
How about fucking Darnold? He was the 3rd pick.
lol
The team says they’ve been looking for a trade for ‘a while’. Meaning no one was giving them anything BEFORE this. Until he plays, he has little value. His demotion doesn’t really mean shit. They’d be well served to hang on to him and see how the season goes rather than dumping him for a 4th round pick. He’ll likely get playing time given the way Shanny goes through QBs.
Darnold? He’s a confirmed journeyman who isn’t starting this year. What are you talking about
Come on Flav. Darnold was the 3rd overall pick of the Jets in 2018. He’s leading us to the Super Bowl! Fucking Geno Smith resurrected his career last year. Josh Allen had a pretty mediocre first season. No one knows what will happen. Closest thing I can think of would be the Packers trading Rogers 2 years into his time with the team while he sat on the bench behind Favre. Would they have gotten what they would have 3 years later? Of course not.
Being demoted to 3rd isn’t helping Lance’s status, but he has no status anyway so it doesn’t mean much for his value. Lance needs playing time.
Can he help the Vikings this season if they move from fucking Cousins? Could be. Probably. Cousins has one less playoff win than Brock Purdy. Would it be spectacular? Probably not. There’d be growing pains, but there is NO substitute for playing in games. Will he be better than Cousins? In the long run, probably.
This is a sad situation indeed. I was hoping Lance would come around I would still . like to keep him on the team this year. Since I don’t really know what is going on or how far he’s progressed which I guess is obviously not enough. So I just have to figure the FO knows what they are doing. I would be happier about it if we trade him for a good tackle. Far as I’m concerned we should trade all our 1st round picks for future 3-5 picks. I still think that you can protect 4/5 practice squad players each week, but maybe that was covid rules.
Bosa’s gonna get top dog money and my guess it’s about guaranteed money/ years.
Wait a second, you guys are saying Darnold is shit yet he beat out Lance who is somehow better? Run that by me again? You haven’t been paying attention. Darnold is operating this system well and like Purdy he’s never been it it before. Shanahan needs to trust that the backup can step right in and he has that with Darnold.
Lance played poorly his first 2 series and well his second 2 series against Denver. He had a pick and almost a second pick but it’s the plays he doesn’t see that is his biggest problem and coaching can’t fix that. He has physical traits but doesn’t process quickly enough.
Lance was given every opportunity to succeed. Between his injuries and his own abilities it didn’t happen, but that is all any player can ask for, an opportunity. There are no guarantees for anyone. You guys think Lynch and Shanahan took this decision lightly? They will get no end of shit for drafting Lance and not enough credit for drafting Purdy right? Fact is 75% of 1st round QB’s flame out.
I don’t see placing blame on anyone in this situation. I also don’t see it affecting the locker room. The players all saw what happened. The 9ers didn’t screw Lance, a mixture of bad injury luck and not enough ability led him to where he is now. The players know better than anyone that nothing is given in the NFL, everything is earned. Its why Bosa will get his massive contract and a 7th round rookie named Ronnie Bell will be on the 53 in a crowded WR room, they earned it.
Ok Im starting to write war and peace like TK but that’s what’s up.
Well said.
Thx Barleyfreak!
I agree but I think he still has a future in the NFL. Unfortunately, if 3 first round picks were used to get a player, that is still considered a bust.
It’s a matter of reps and waiting for the light to go on for Lance and nobody knows if it will or not. He still has time.
I normally would not read too much into a depth chart. What is weird is he wasn’t at practice. Is he pouting? Are they working a trade? Is he hurt? Whatever. We’ll all find out soon enough.
What I give ShanaLynch credit for is not trying to hide a mistake. Right or wrong, they are making a decision they feel is best for the team instead of not wanting to admit they missed on the pick.
I’d think Shanny said ‘take a day’ and we’ll talk tomorrow. Let the shit-storm settle a little bit.
Who knows? Yeah, I feel the same way about the depth chart. Lance wasn’t valuable before being demoted and it didn’t change his value much at all.
If anything, Lance’s value drops a little bit more, and he stays because the ‘braintrust’ isn’t gonna just give him away for a 4. His upside is still something that they should value.
FWIW, Lance is at practice today.
As #3, wouldn’t that mean Lance is QB of scout team, that goes against #1 D in practice? At least he would stay busy.
Lance to the Cowboys for a 4th.
So it’s Purdy, Darnold and Allen and traded Lance for a mid rounder, now I look like Nostradamus.
They basically traded Lance for Allen.
This WILL bite them in the ass. Game 5 here will be fun.
New thread is up.