It’s not a huge surprise that, after spending the past two seasons as the No. 3 option for a Cowboys bunch that had Dak Prescott and Cooper Rush firmly entrenched ahead of him, Trey Lance now will be on the move. Stephen Jones, the team’s VP and son of owner Jerry Jones, said this week that Lance won’t be back.
But don’t expect Lance to disappear altogether. It seems that, despite playing just 12 games and making five starts in his four years in the NFL, Lance still has fans around the league willing to take a chance on him.
That’s the assertion from NFL insider Tom Pelissero, who spoke about Lance’s situation on the NFL Network on Monday. Pelissero made two surprising claims: first, that the Cowboys offered Lance an extension, and second, that other teams are likely to give Lance a look in free agency.
Lance is an unrestricted free agent as of March 12.
“On Trey Lance, for anyone thinking that’s a referendum on him, for one thing, he’s a free agent,” Pelissero said. “This is not like he’s getting released. But they actually came to him, I am told, with a contract extension offer late last season. It didn’t make sense for Trey Lance to take it because he wasn’t playing for the Cowboys at that point. Didn’t wind up working out.
“There were multiple teams after Dallas traded for him, trying to trade for Trey Lance, who is still only 24 years old, he is younger than Michael Penix. There is going to be interest in Trey Lance as a developmental player in this cycle. Certainly, when you had a guy like Cooper Rush there, who they were leaning on, a veteran, he is going to do well in this market, too, and Dallas is probably going to be looking one way or another, for a backup quarterback.”
Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones says Dallas’ offseason plan is to be “selectively aggressive.” pic.twitter.com/CE1dNHUNFQ
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) February 24, 2025
Lance, the No. 3 pick by the 49ers in the 2021 draft out of North Dakota State, wound up appearing in four games with the Cowboys, and made just one start. He completed 25 out of 41 passes for 266 yards on the year, with no touchdowns and an interception. He started in Week 18 against Washington, a 23-19 loss.
