Former Panther Sam Darnold Beats Out Trey Lance for Niners Backup Job

Sam Darnold is QB2 in San Fran.

In 2021, the Carolina Panthers traded 2nd, 4th, and 6th-round picks to the New York Jets in exchange for Sam Darnold.

The organization loved the combination of his mobility and arm strength and felt like a change of scenery could help him develop into the quarterback everyone thought he would be when he was drafted third overall in 2018.

Unfortunately, things didn't pan out and at times, Darnold looked worse than he did with the Jets. At the end of the 2022 season, Darnold became an unrestricted free agent and with a new coaching staff coming in, the Panthers knew this was their chance to go in a different direction and make a big move to land their franchise quarterback.

Darnold landed with the San Francisco 49ers during the first wave of free agency where it looked like he would be the third option behind Brock Purdy and Trey Lance. But after yet another inconsistent preseason for Lance, head coach Kyle Shanahan named Darnold the backup to Purdy. 

With this news, the Niners could be open to trading Lance. The problem is, there may not be any interest. San Francisco traded three first round picks and a third round pick to Miami to draft Lance, only for him to sit behind Mr. Irrelevant (Purdy) and Sam Darnold by year three. Ouch. 

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