49ers' Kyle Shanahan 'Really Hoping' Trey Lance Remains with Team amid Trade Rumors

As the San Francisco 49ers prepare to go into the regular season with Brock Purdy and Sam Darnold as their top two quarterbacks, Trey Lance's future with the organization is very unclear at the moment.

In an interview with KNBR's Tom Tolbert and Adam Copeland, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said he is "really hoping" Lance will remain with the team.

NFL Network's Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport reported earlier in the day Darnold beat out Lance to be San Francisco's No. 2 quarterback, leaving Lance's future "unclear."

In the wake of Pelissero and Rapoport's report, Lance wasn't on the field with the rest of the team when Wednesday's practice began.

The Athletic's Dianna Russini noted the 49ers are "exploring trade possibilities for Lance," though they have been doing that for "for much of the offseason" and "never received a significant trade offer" for the 23-year-old.

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio reported on April 19 that the 49ers and Minnesota Vikings had discussions about Lance during the NFL scouting combine.

Per CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones, the Vikings are the team that makes the most sense for Lance, but there are "several teams guessed to be interested in a trade who emphatically are not."

If this marks the end of Lance's tenure in San Francisco, it will almost certainly go down as one of the biggest busts in draft history. The team swapped first-round picks with the Miami Dolphins, sent a third-round pick in 2021 and dealt first-rounders in 2022 and 2023 to acquire the No. 3 overall pick.

After playing behind Jimmy Garoppolo as a rookie in 2021, Lance went into last season as the 49ers' starting quarterback. He suffered a season-ending injury in Week 2.

Purdy, the final pick in the 2022 draft, started the final five games for San Francisco last season after Garoppolo suffered a broken foot in Week 13. He threw for 1,374 yards and 13 touchdowns to help the 49ers win the NFC West and advance to the NFC Championship Game.

Lance did make two starts in each of his first two seasons. He has thrown for 797 yards with five touchdowns and completed 54.9 percent of his attempts in eight career games.