The first two days of the draft came and went without Trey Lance being dealt.
But NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport seems to think that the window on a Lance trade is very much open. During the fifth round of the draft, as a host of quarterbacks flew off the board, he offered an update on the situation.
The San Francisco Chronicle’s Mike Silver also talked about the situation on Friday with Tolbert and Copes. Listen here:
Rapoport didn’t indicate a trade was imminent, and put the situation in a similar framework to Jimmy Garoppolo’s situation.
The 49ers waited for a team’s quarterback to get injured and to trade Garoppolo, but that never happened. Rapoport said the 49ers could pursue a similar approach of waiting until training camp plays out.
He also said he wouldn’t be surprised to see the team take another quarterback in the draft.
“To have the No. 3 overall pick be the potential third-string quarterback on your roster is awkward and at some point, there is more value out there to trading him, than there is in keeping him on the roster. There’s gonna be some team — and maybe this is in August, when we know for sure for sure that Brock Purdy is healthy, at some point, if someone loses a quarterback, maybe Trey Lance is better on another roster and the 49ers are better off with draft pick compensation or a player they would get. I’m not saying they’re definitely trading him, but there is a reason to do so at some point.”
It is both vague, and not at all. The indication is pretty strong there that if a reasonable deal is presented to the 49ers and Purdy is healthy, they’ll have open ears.
They would also save $3.76 million in cap space if they trade Lance after June 1. They’d lose $1.78 million in cap space if they trade him before then.
