Trey Lance's Demotion to QB3 Has NFL Fans Ripping 49ers for Historically Bad Trade

It's safe to assume Trey Lance's tenure with the San Francisco 49ers will come to an end very soon.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported on Wednesday that Sam Darnold will start the regular season as the No. 2 quarterback in San Francisco behind Brock Purdy, with the 49ers "exploring options" for Lance.

This likely marks the end to what has been one of the strangest—and worst—draft trades in recent memory.

On March 26, 2021, the 49ers traded the No. 12 overall pick and a third-rounder in the 2021 NFL draft, plus first-rounders in 2022 and 2023 to the Miami Dolphins for the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 draft.

After much speculation about San Francisco's plan for the pick, Lance was the team's selection and a signal he was going to be the quarterback of the future for head coach Kyle Shanahan.

Instead, Lance will likely end his tenure with the 49ers having attempted 102 passes in eight games over the past two seasons.

Lance's status with the 49ers became unclear as soon as Darnold signed with the team as a free agent. The 23-year-old has barely been given an opportunity to showcase his ability in the NFL to this point.

Even though there were some whispers about a quarterback competition during training camp when Lance was a rookie, Jimmy Garoppolo's response when he was asked about it leading up to the final preseason game indicated it wasn't a really a battle.

Lance was anointed San Francisco's starter going into last season, but Garoppolo surprisingly stayed with the team after restructuring his contract late in preseason.

After playing through a rainstorm against the Chicago Bears in Week 1, Lance's 2022 season came to an end the next week against the Seattle Seahawks when he suffered a fractured ankle, fibula and ligament disruption on the team's second offensive possession of the game.

When Garoppolo suffered a broken foot in a Week 13 game against the Dolphins, the 49ers turned to Brock Purdy as their quarterback. The final pick in the 2022 NFL draft wound up going 5-0 in five starts to end the regular season and threw for 1,374 yards with 13 touchdowns.

Whatever happens next for Lance, hopefully he can land on a team that's willing to let him play through some mistakes. Between his time in college at North Dakota State and two seasons in the NFL, he's only attempted 420 passes since 2018.

Even if Lance ends up failing in the NFL, it would be nice to see him get an opportunity to work through any potential issues.