One of the reports that surfaced Wednesday amid a tidal wave of speculation about Trey Lance was that the team was trying to trade him even before Sam Darnold won the backup QB job.
Dianna Russini of the Athletic reported that San Francisco’s goal of trading Lance didn’t begin with Darnold winning the backup job, and that the team had been shopping their former No. 3 overall pick all offseason.
49ers general manager John Lynch was asked about that report in an interview on KNBR in San Francisco. He flatly denied it.
“That’s not accurate,” Lynch said. “People are gonna – if I responded to every report I’d have no time in my day. But that is not accurate.”
Lynch may or may not be telling the truth here.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if the team was open for business on Lance throughout the offseason in the hopes an offer would materialize. It also wouldn’t be a surprise if they were actively shopping the QB until training camp began.
Once camp started though they, at least outwardly, appeared committed to having a battle between Lance and Sam Darnold. That it ended before the final preseason game throws that into question some.
Given that the team’s dissolving attachment to Lance has been evident since the offseason, so much so that the 49ers and Vikings had offseason talks about a Lance trade per reports, the fact there weren’t any suitable offers by training camp makes it hard to believe San Francisco continued actively shopping him.
One thing is clear whether the 49ers are making calls or not – they are very much open for business on Lance.
