Everything about the Trey Lance era in San Francisco is strange. From the discourse and reporting around which quarterback the team was targeting in the 2021 draft, to his tenure with the team, to his eventual trade just ahead of the 2023 season – Lance’s third with the team. All the while Lance had to battle a veteran quarterback (Jimmy Garoppolo) who was on his way out the door for both of Lance’s first two seasons, only for Lance to have his spot taken by the final pick in the 2022 draft. It turns out we’re not quite done with the Lance oddities just yet.
Because of the nature of rookie contracts, when the 49ers traded Lance to the Cowboys for a fourth-round pick during the 2023 preseason, they had to eat some of the money left on his deal.
The 49ers will carry a $5,540,956 dead cap hit from Lance, which means the 2021 No. 3 overall pick and current backup QB for the Dallas Cowboys, will cost San Francisco more against the cap than their starting quarterback Brock Purdy.
Purdy in the third year of his four-year rookie contract will count for $1,004,253 against the cap. That makes Lance $4,536,703 more expensive for San Francisco than their starting quarterback for this season.
If we want to go a step further, Lance’s $5,540,956 cap hit for the 49ers will cost the team about as much as their entire QB room. Purdy, Brandon Allen, Joshua Dobbs and Tanner Mordecai are slated to cost $5,597,586 against the cap – just $56,630 more than Lance.
Ultimately that $4.5ish million is a drop in the bucket that hasn’t had any real impact on the 49ers’ offseason. And once Purdy is getting paid at or near the top of the market by the time he signs an extension, presumably next offseason, the Lance deal will be entirely off the books for San Francisco.
Alas, the Lance era was odd and this is one last small reminder of his tenure before the page turns for good.
