Speculation flew throughout the offseason that the 49ers might aim to move on from quarterback Trey Lance. Brock Purdy’s emergence as the team’s No. 1 signal caller put Lance’s future with the club in question.
Ultimately the club decided not to give up on the former No. 3 pick and instead kept a strong QB room with Purdy, Lance and free agent signee Sam Darnold. While the rumor mill churned about Lance potentially moving on, he QB told reporters in a press conference Tuesday that he never hoped to be moved.
“No, not at all. I knew where I wanted to be,” Lance said. “Even going back to last year, like I said, I just wanted my opportunity to compete. For me, I love it here. I love the coaching staff, I love working with (QB coach Brian) Griese and (assistant QB coach) Klay (Kubiak), and now (passing game coordinator) Klint (Kubiak) as well. Love the quarterback room. Love the guys in the locker room. No doubt for me, this is absolutely where I want to be.”
When former 49ers director of player personnel Ran Carthon joined the Titans as their general manager, Lance posted on social media a photo of Carthon captioned with a few ‘fingers crossed’ emojis. Some took that to mean Lance was hopeful he’d go to Nashville with Carthon. The QB later explained on an online radio show with QB coach Quincy Avery that he uses the ‘fingers crossed’ emoji all the time and not to mean he’s hopeful to be moved out of San Francisco.
It makes sense that he’d want to stick around with the 49ers. Their injury woes at QB have turned their backup QBs into starters in virtually all of Kyle Shanahan’s seasons as head coach. Lance will also get a real chance to compete for the starting QB job while Purdy is out recovering from offseason elbow surgery,
Reports from Lance’s personal QB coach are that the 23-year-old made significant offseason strides from a mechanics standpoint. If he continues those improvements into training camp there’s a chance he makes things interesting atop the team’s depth chart.
The ability to compete has been Lance’s M.O. since arriving in the Bay Area, and now he’ll get that opportunity this offseason.
Perhaps the 49ers aren’t his permanent NFL home. That’ll be determined over how the next 10 or so months go. However, both sides are outwardly happy with the relationship for now, and keeping things harmonious could be beneficial to both Lance and the 49ers moving forward.
