There does not appear to be a vibrant trade market for Trey Lance, whom 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan informed on Wednesday had lost the competition to be the team’s backup quarterback.
And the 49ers gain no salary-cap benefit from releasing him. The four-year, $34.1 million contract he signed as the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft is fully guaranteed.
General manager John Lynch on Thursday made his first public comments since Lance was absent from 49ers practice nearly 24 hours earlier.
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Lynch said he believes Lance will come back to the team and stay for the regular season.
“We’re very happy with Trey,” Lynch said on his KNBR radio segment. “That’s probably the most likely option, that he’s here.”
Understandably, Lance does not have much of a trade market.
At 23, Lance is completely unproven with only one season as a starter at North Dakota State and never playing even a quarter of the snaps in consecutive games at the NFL level.
San Francisco 49ers
If the quarterback-friendly 49ers are willing to move on after making such a huge investment to draft him, then that is not exactly a leverage point to seek suitable compensation in return.
Clearly, however, the phone lines are open.
“If we could find a landing spot for Trey that is a really good one for him and works for our organization, that’s not something we’d turn a blind eye to,” Lynch said.
“But that’s not where our focus is right now. I think our focus is on Trey getting back here and us being the best football team.”
The 49ers and all NFL teams must trim their 90-man rosters to the regular-season limit of 53 players by Tuesday. The 49ers have four quarterbacks, and Lynch said Lance rates ahead of Brandon Allen on the depth chart for the No. 3 spot.
“Right now, Trey is a part of this team, and we’re going to move forward with that in mind,” Lynch said.
Lance is expected to return to the team and enter the preseason finale Friday night against the Los Angeles Chargers after starter Brock Purdy and Darnold, the backup, Lynch said.
“Yeah, I think that’s the plan,” Lynch said. “He’s our No. 3 quarterback as we stand right now. And that would be the expectation, that we see him after Sam’s done tomorrow.”