NFL World Couldn’t Figure Out What to Make of Trey Lance Being Traded to Cowboys

One of the odder moves of this offseason drew a variety of reactions.

How quickly things change in the NFL.

A little over 36 hours ago, 49ers general manager John Lynch was on KNBR-AM in San Francisco, telling fans “the most likely option” was quarterback Trey Lance sticking with the team entering the 2023 season.

Now, Lance is reportedly on his way to the Cowboys for a fourth-round pick. It’s a stunning exit for the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 draft, a prospect for whom San Francisco went to extravagant lengths to hide its affection once upon a time.

With Brock Purdy and Sam Darnold running the show in the Bay Area and Lance now behind Dak Prescott on Dallas’s depth chart, football fans and observers were left to make sense of a new NFC reality.

Purdy’s new position of prominence was put under the microscope.

they really banking everything on brock .pic.twitter.com/PTDTbOT4qZ https://t.co/L8Sub6Xzub

— myro (@myrofr) August 25, 2023

49ers fans woodshedded their team for their careless approach to the process.

What a debacle…. 3 years & a few starts? To Dallas of all places…the only way this regime evades criticism of the pick, process, logic, development, relationship, everything, is if Purdy is truly THE guy or they WIN a Super Bowl… what a corner to be boxed in to. Good luck Trey https://t.co/1TQsmh8Zvm

— Joe Shasky (@ButcherBoy415) August 25, 2023

Fictitious Prescotts maintained their sense of superiority.

He will make a nice 3rd string behind me and Coop https://t.co/e0qDLOfWud

— Arrogant Dak Prescott (@ArrogantDak) August 25, 2023

ESPN’s Bomani Jones pointed out that, strange though the move may have looked, it was par for the course for the Cowboys.

one thing about jerry: he can’t pass up high upside at a low cost. he’s made far riskier and weirder moves than this. and this is weird. https://t.co/WlcK8ZI7Qu

— bomani (@bomani_jones) August 25, 2023

Some Dallas fans gave the move high marks as a low-risk endeavor.

eager to read the reporting that will emerge on the front office's thinking here. but this is one of the cooler moves they've made in a long time https://t.co/s6YGe7IDvX

— Bureau of Human-Bovine Cultural Affairs (@CowboysStats) August 25, 2023

Longtime ESPN host Trey Wingo, too, slammed San Francisco’s handling of the situation.

This is exactly what Trey needs.. a fresh start. It’s also the end of a disastrous decision by the @49ers who to this point have been bailed out by a miraculous Mr. Irrelevant pick https://t.co/it1yDpviDv

— trey wingo (@wingoz) August 25, 2023

Speculation regarding Prescott’s future ran rampant.

Meanwhile, fans of other NFC teams were left to shake their fists at the 49ers’ still-sunny prospects for 2023.

The 49ers setting 3 1sts on fire, and still being elite NFC team is infuriating https://t.co/vbEli12s4w

— Ralph Malbrough 🥃 (@SaintsForecast) August 25, 2023