Dallas Cowboys have 'thrown around idea' of Trey Lance as QB1

There are a lot of moving parts surrounding Dak Prescott, which is why Bucky Brooks believes the Cowboys have considered Trey Lance as the long-term option.

Randy Gurzi | Jun 28, 2024

Dallas Cowboys, Trey Lance / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

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Until Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys agree to an extension, there will be much speculation about how the two sides will move forward. While the common belief is that Prescott will stay, there's always an outside chance the team takes its hard-nosed stance too far and has to watch him walk out the door.

Dallas has played the game in the media before regarding players trying to land extensions, but typically caves. That was the case in 2019 with Ezekiel Elliott and again in 2021 with Prescott. However, the quarterback holds all the cards this time since their last mishandling of his deal led to a clause preventing Prescott from being hit with the franchise tag.

Credit: Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports / Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports

That's one reason Jane Slater of the NFL Network can envision a scenario where Prescott decides to play out the final year of his deal and test the open market. She added that there was no inside information — while also saying she believes a deal will ultimately get done — but could see the Cowboys trying to talk themselves into Trey Lance in such a situation.

MORE: Dak Prescott leaving Dallas could be in his best interest

NFL insider Bucky Brooks elaborated further, saying he could see Prescott playing things out and chasing the bag like Kirk Cousins did. Brooks believes the front office has "thrown around the idea" that Lance could be the answer and compared him to Jordan Love, who wasn't expected to perform as well as he did when handed the keys to the Green Bay offense.

Brooks added that Dallas has to figure out how to pay CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons, and paying Lance rather than Dak would allow them to fit everyone under the cap. The question would be how much they trust Mike McCarthy to develop Lance.

While all this was said as speculation without any information into the front office's stance, there's no doubt the Jones family has had the conversation. They've been adamant that paying a quarterback premium limits the team's spending ability. They're not the only team to feel this way either, with recent reports indicating some owners want a separate salary cap for quarterbacks.

That's not likely to happen, but some teams will eventually let their star quarterback walk and replace him with a younger option they can load talent around. And if anyone believes Stephen Jones wouldn't be willing to take such a gamble, they clearly don't know Stephen Jones.

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