Cowboys Plans for QB Trey Lance? Jerry Jones' Blunt Reveal

“Candidly,'' Jerry Jones responds when asked how QB Trey Lance might help the Cowboys in 2023, "I don’t want to plan on, count on, or wish for help from him this year.”

ARLINGTON - The Dallas Cowboys, as we have reported in the wake of their Friday trade for San Francisco 49ers QB Trey Lance, in exchange for a 2024 fourth-round pick, are "throwing a dart'' here. It's an experiment with "nothing to lose,'' as a source put it to us immediately after the completion of the deal.

And now here at AT&T Stadium on Saturday night before the preseason finale against the Raiders, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is bluntly making our point even more clear. 

“Candidly,'' Jones responded when asked how Lance might help the Cowboys in 2023, "I don’t want to plan on, count on, or wish for help from him this year.”

Can it be expressed any more emphatically? Lance, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 draft out of North Dakota State, was recently announced as the third quarterback on the depth chart in San Francisco. At age 23, there is no reason for the football world to give up on him.

But there is also no reason for the Cowboys to think of him as any sort of threat to Dak Prescott, or for that matter, to Cooper Rush as the No. 2 guy. 

Lance will leapfrog over Will Grier as the No. 3 QB (who will be cut after Saturday's showcase) because he's a higher-upside project. That's it.

Jerry did contradict himself a bit by saying, “We view it as an opportunity that could pay dividends this year and will pay dividends (in the future).'' But he must mean "dividends'' along the lines of serving as a scout-team body.

Is Lance a "bust'' as many say? Or, as one person close to the situation put it to CowboysSI.com, is there "nothing to lose''?

Lance started last season as the 49ers' starter but suffered a season-ending injury in Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks. Regardless, the Niners advanced to the NFC Championship but lost to the Philadelphia Eagles.

In eight career games, Lance has gone 56 of 102 passing for 797 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions. Known for his dual-threat ability, he's added 54 carries for 235 yards and one touchdown.

He is, in the end, a dart. An experiment. Nothing to be "counted on'' ... and nothing - in terms of performance - like Dak Prescott.

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