The 49ers are Still Paying for Dallas Cowboys Quarterback Trey Lance

If the 49ers had drafted someone worth of the no. 3 pick, someone other than Lance, they might have won a Super Bowl by now.

Jun 5, 2024; Frisco, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Trey Lance (19) goes through a drill during practice at the Ford Center at the Star Training Facility in Frisco, Texas. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports | Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports

Trey Lance hasn't played for the 49ers in almost a year, and yet he's still one of the most expensive players on the team.

The 49ers traded Lance after June 1 last year, so they took some of their dead cap hit in 2023 and will take the rest in 2024. Which means this year, Lance still takes up $5.54 million of the 49ers' salary cap space. Only 12 players have higher cap hits on the 49ers this year, and Brock Purdy isn't one of them. Meanwhile, Lance's cap hit on the Cowboys, his current team, is $5.31 million. So he's cheaper for Dallas than he is for the 49ers.

Lance may turn out to be the Cowboys' next franchise quarterback -- we don't know what the future holds for him. But we do know the 49ers traded three first-round picks and a third for him then traded him away for a fourth-round pick after two years and four career starts. So they got nothing for their massive investment. And they're still paying for it.

In hindsight, they could have had Penei Sewell or Ja'Marr Chase, two of the best players in the NFL, with the pick they used to take Lance. But they told themselves they had to take a quarterback because good ones are difficult to find late in the draft.

A year later, the 49ers found their franchise quarterback with the last pick in the draft.

If the 49ers had drafted someone worth of the no. 3 pick, someone other than Lance, they might have won a Super Bowl by now.

I guess we'll never know.