Tag: Trey Lance

Cowboys $91 million position predicted to be addressed in both draft, free agency

A review of what the Cowboys have at QB, what they’ll do once the league year starts with free agency and the draft.

With the 2024 NFL season concluding Sunday, it’s now time for all 32 teams to turn their attention to the 2025 season.  There is approximately just one month’s time for teams to finalize their game plans of how they want to attack the offseason and for the Dallas Cowboys, there’s a lot of work to be done.

The team has configured the majority of their new coaching staff, led by new head coach Brian Schottenheimer and his new coordinators Klayton Adams and Matt Eberflus. Personnel director Will McClay has been extended for five more seasons and now the attention needs to turn to fixing the roster that resulted in a 7-10 regular season record. Everything starts at the top, and in the NFL that’s the quarterback position.

Rostered: $90.9 million in cap space

The Cowboys have two players under contract for 2025, starter Dak Prescott and backup Will Grier.

Prescott enters the first year of his four-year extension signed at the beginning of last season worth $240 million. Currently he is set to take up $89.9 million of cap space, with the salary cap expected to come in around $272.5 million in 2025. Clearly the Cowboys aren’t going to allow one player to eat up one-third of their cap space and the team will restructure the deal, as was intended when it was signed.

Restructuring Prescott’s base salary ($47.75 million) can be done all at once, or as cap space is needed. The minimum base salary for a player with Prescott’s experience (7+ years) is $1.255 million. Up to $46.5 million of salary can be spread evenly over five years (four contract years and the first of four void years already built in) meaning the club could shave up to $37.2 million off of Prescott’s 2025 cap hit.

Grier is a placeholder, signed well after Prescott was lost for the year, and is no guarantee to make the club, or even training camp for that matter. He’s currently on the books for the league minimum of $1.17 million and has a cap hit of $1.03 million.

Prediction: Restructure Prescott, Grier is a camp body with a shot.

Pending Free Agents

Prescott’s primary backups for the last two seasons, Cooper Rush and Trey Lance, are both pending free agents. Dallas traded for Lance, giving up a 2024 fourth-round pick in 2023, and gave him no opportunity to prove he could be a viable backup whatsoever, giving them little game evidence to decide on.

Rush was given plenty of opportunity and again proved to be a capable bus driver who is mistake prone but able to win some games. Rush has a career 9-5 record with a 2:1 TD:INT ratio, going 4-4 last year with a career worst 40.8 QBR.

There will likely be some team interested in bringing Lance in to give the young guy a shot and likely some team interested in having Rush around while they groom a young QB out of the draft. There’s arguments for either or neither to be back in Dallas, but not both.

Prediction: Both sign elsewhere.

External Free Agents

There’s a limited amount of intriguing QBs in free agency this year, and the Cowboys aren’t going to be looking to spend significant space on a backup with so many other needs. Failures elsewhere, such as Justin Fields, Mac Jones and Daniel Jones, will probably have a market that prices the Cowboys out.

Prediction: Sign Jameis Winston, two-year, $7.5 million (void years), $2 million cap hit

2025 NFL Draft

The Cowboys could have gone in multiple directions with their head coaching hire, but clearly were looking for stability with the staff that has worked with Prescott. Any idea the club would be looking to escape Prescott’s contract soon and draft an heir apparent to groom went out the window with Schotty’s hire.

That doesn’t mean the club will be out on QB in the draft though, as it makes sense to draft and develop a future backup.

Prediction: Use one of their four fifth-round picks to draft a QB, such as Louisville’s Tyler Shough.

Future HOF QB believes NFL teams should learn from 49ers, Brock Purdy

Drew Brees thinks more NFL teams should follow the model the 49ers laid out with Brock Purdy.

The San Francisco 49ers avoided a potentially catastrophic quarterback situation when they selected QB Brock Purdy with the final pick in the 2022 NFL draft.

Former No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance got hurt in Week 2 of a crucial second season where he was to be the team’s starter, and his development track was derailed to the point it may never match up with the 49ers’ immediate timeline for contention. Purdy stepped in and right away helped solve the biggest question mark on the 49ers’ roster.

Future Pro Football Hall of Fame QB Drew Brees believes NFL teams can learn from how the Purdy situation shook out in San Francisco.

Purdy landed the QB3 job out of camp behind Lance and veteran backup Jimmy Garoppolo. The 49ers were a Super Bowl contending team coming off a trip to a second NFC championship game in three years, and boasted a loaded offense guided by one of the league’s best offensive minds in head coach Kyle Shanahan.

It was a nigh perfect situation for Purdy to step into when he took over for an injured Garoppolo in Week 13 of his rookie season. Mr. Irrelevant led the 49ers to the NFC championship game as a rookie, and then to a Super Bowl in Year 2 where they fell to the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime.

Brees told Saints Wire’s Crissy Froyd that QB-needy teams around the league should be looking toward the team-building blueprint San Francisco stumbled upon.

Via Saints Wire:

“(He just) maximized everything about what they were doing offensively in order to win these games. And he’s very cerebral,” Brees said.

There have been some issues in San Francisco that need to be fixed, but Purdy in his own right has proven he can be the quarterback of the future for the team if they can put the right type of consistent pieces in place. Every team needs to support their quarterback, but that’s even more critical for young pros like Purdy.

“So, if he gets into a situation in San Francisco where he’s got a great offense, great run scheme, great head coach and he’s got all this high level experience, that equates to success right away,” Brees said. “I think there’s a lot that can be learned from that story when you talk about how you draft guys and the situations you put them in.”

Ironically, this is also the crux of the discussion surrounding Purdy’s impending contract extension. He was outstanding in his first year-plus as a starter, but his situation was also about as good as a quarterback can ask for. That brings up questions about whether it was the QB or the situation that generated the unprecedented success for a QB who was the final pick in the draft.

The 49ers may not have done it on purpose, but it has worked well for them and all signs point toward Purdy getting a massive contract at or near the top of the QB market this offseason.

It’ll be interesting to see how teams continue building moving forward knowing how players like Purdy and Sam Darnold thrived in more ideal situations. Perhaps we reach a point where teams beginning rebuilds atop the NFL draft focus more on building a strong foundation that lowers the necessary bar for any potential franchise QB to clear.

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49ers interview 1 of Trey Lance’s college coaches for OC

The San Francisco 49ers interviewed one of Trey Lance’s college coaches for their offensive coordinator position.

San Francisco completed an interview with Iowa State receivers coach and passing game coordinator Noah Pauley for its offensive coordinator position.

Pauley has spent the past two seasons with the Cyclones and helped direct Iowa State to its winningest season in program history during the 2024 campaign. With Pauley assisting, Iowa State ranked 39th nationally in passing yards per game (255.7), 39th in total offense (416.2 yards per game) and 41st in scoring offense (31.1 points per game).

The Cyclones had a pair of 1,000-yard receivers during the 2024 season in seniors Jaylin Noel and Jayden Higgins. That duo combined for 17 touchdown grabs.

A Minnesota-Duluth alum, Pauley began his coaching career at his alma mater as a student assistant during the 2011 season. Pauley then served as a graduate assistant at Minnesota-Duluth during the 2013-14 seasons before being named the offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at Minnesota-Duluth from 2016-18.

During his coaching stint at Minnesota-Duluth, Pauley coached six all-conference wide receivers, including All-American receiver and return specialist Aaron Roth.

Pauley then joined North Dakota State as the program’s wide receivers coach from 2019-22. While coaching at North Dakota State, Pauley teamed with eventual 49ers first-round NFL draft selection Trey Lance to win the 2019 FCS national championship.

Though 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said in his recent end-of-season press conference that San Francisco was planning to promote passing game specialist Klay Kubiak as the team’s new offensive coordinator, NFL rules don’t permit teams to directly promote coaches to previously closed coordinator spots without an open search process.

As such, San Francisco has been required to undergo a full interview process in accordance with NFL rules. With Kubiak seemingly set to be the 49ers’ next offensive coordinator once the formal interview process is complete, Pauley’s interview could lay the groundwork for him to get hired into another position with the organization.

That was the path that Brandon Staley followed to his current role as San Francisco assistant head coach/defense.

If Kubiak is ultimately named as the 49ers’ next offensive coordinator, he would be the franchise’s first offensive coordinator since Mike McDaniel held the position in 2021. Kubiak called plays for San Francisco in the team’s 2024 regular season finale against the Arizona Cardinals as the 49ers totaled 436 yards of offense.

Kubiak also called plays in two preseason games ahead of the 2024 season. Shanahan said he will continue to call plays, but Kubiak will add the title of offensive coordinator.

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Cowboys lead Commanders at halftime: 4 first-half takeaways

An ugly first half for the Commanders.

The Dallas Cowboys lead the Washington Commanders 6-3 at halftime of their Week 18 game at AT&T Stadium. Interestingly, it’s the same halftime score from their Week 12 meeting.

The Commanders’ first half was full of errors. They managed 64 yards of total offense. Washington’s defense allowed 190 yards to a Dallas offense led by Trey Lance and playing without star receiver CeeDee Lamb.

Here are four quick takeaways from the first half.

They miss Tyler Biadasz

Washington ruled out center Tyler Baidasz before the game with an ankle injury. He was listed as doubtful on Friday’s final injury report. Biadasz missed the Week 15 game at New Orleans, and while the Commanders won, they struggled with the Saints’ defensive front. It’s been the same against the Cowboys in the first half. Dallas has moved Micah Parsons around, and he has two sacks, one in which he beat Biadasz’s replacement, Michael Deiter. Deiter didn’t even get a hand on Parsons.

Washington’s running game finished with 44 first-half, 27, from quarterback Jayden Daniels.

Daniels is off

Daniels completed six of 12 passes in the first half for 38 yards. He’s been under duress in the first half, but he hasn’t been accurate when he’s had time to throw. Daniels missed wide receiver Dyami Brown on a deep ball. Brown had the defender beat, but Daniels underthrew the pass, allowing the Cowboys’ defender time to break it up.

He also missed wide receiver Terry McLaurin on a third-down slant. McLaurin had the defender beaten inside, and Daniels’s throw was too wide.

Dropped passes

The receivers haven’t helped Daniels. On a trick play, Brown threw deep to wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus, which went through his hands. Zaccheaus missed another one on the sideline. The second one would have been a tougher catch, but he still missed it.

McLaurin also saw one go through his hands. McLaurin has four targets and one catch. Daniels missed him twice, McLaurin dropped one and McLaurin had one catch for five yards.

Defensive struggles

Somehow, Washington’s defense has allowed almost 200 yards of total offense to a Dallas team led by Lance. The Cowboys have struggled to run all year and have 73 rushing yards in the first half. Lance’s athleticism has helped the running game.

The Commanders’ defense has tightened up in the second half of games recently. We’ll see if that trend continues in the second half.

 

Is Trey Lance playing today? Update for Cowboys backup QB

Here’s the latest narrative surrounding Lance’s shot to play in Week 18 against the Washington Commanders. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys 2024 season is will be over and done with by 4pm central time on Sunday. With the playoffs not a possibility, there isn’t much left to their season other than playing out the string. Yet somehow, even in a lost campaign, the franchise has found a way to muddy the waters.

The coaching staff, led by Mike McCarthy, deserves kudos for keeping the team engaged despite this fate being pretty much inevitable since early November. Dallas started out with a 3-7 record, but they fought for four wins in their last five games with the only defeat being a fluke, bone-headed late game screwup on a special teams play. One would think that their elimination before Week 16 would’ve led to an opportunity for fans to get a regular-season glimpse of backup QB Trey Lance.

Yet that didn’t happen against Tampa Bay in Week 16, and it barely happened in a blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 17, with only two minutes remaining in the contest. Lance threw one pass; one.

So there’s still a question of whether or not he will get an actual chance to prove himself.

The rumor is, Lance will finally see “significant snaps” in this game after being an afterthought even though the club has been out of the playoff picture for a while.

Dallas sent a fourth-round pick to San Francisco in exchange for Lance, who was the No. 3 overall pick in 2021 for the 49ers. He was unable to unseat Cooper Rush for the role of Dak Prescott’s backup and now is just a few hours away from the end of his contract.

To make matters worse, Dallas has added practice squad QB Will Grier to the 53-man roster, indicating he will likely see some snaps in the game as well, limiting Lance’s opportunity even if he’s the main QB for this game.

The Cowboys have never tried to utilize his skillset as a running threat, not even in the vein of how the New Orleans Saints have deployed Taysom Hill over the years.

The offseason was a maddening experience for the fanbase, as the club failed to not only avoid signing any impact free agents from the outside, but also failed to bring back many of their own. With contract extensions looming over their biggest stars in Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons, the coaching staff were all on lame duck status.

All in all, it forced several fans to be lose interest in the brand. One thing that united fans, though, especially under the looming 2025 of Prescott (at the time) was whether or not Lance had what it took to be the next franchise quarterback. Acquired towards the end of the 2023 offseason, Lance didn’t play that year, so no one really knew what to expect from him.

As head coach Mike McCarthy avoids playing his stars in the preseason, Lance got plenty of snaps in the exhibitions and acquitted himself relatively well until the final performance when he bombed. He really hasn’t been seen since, which in a lost season where Prescott has been out with injury has frustrated fans even more.

Nothing crystalized this animosity more than in Week 11, when in a blowout loss to the Houston Texans where Cooper Rush struggled mightily, McCarthy refused to let Lance get snaps.

Now eliminated, the subject will finally be laid to rest.

Do the Cowboys have a surprise planned for Commanders?

Dallas could be making a QB change for all the wrong reasons.

The Washington Commanders (11-5) face the Dallas Cowboys (7-9) on Sunday in the regular-season finale. Dallas won the first meeting, 34-26, after a wild finish in Week 12.

That’s the last time Washington lost. The Commanders have won four in a row, clinched a playoff berth, and are looking to lock up the NFC’s No. 6 seed with a win on Sunday in Jerry World.

The Cowboys have nothing to play for on Sunday and will be without star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. That means quarterback Cooper Rush, who replaced the injured Dak Prescott back in Week 9, will be without one of the NFL’s best wide receivers.

What if Rush isn’t under center for Dallas on Sunday against the Commanders? According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, fourth-year quarterback Trey Lance is expected to play “significant snaps” against Washington.

It’s the right move for the Cowboys, and they probably should’ve done it two weeks ago when they were officially eliminated from playoff contention. That’s not a knock on Rush, who played well. Dallas actually had a better record with Rush under center this season than with Prescott.

A former top-five pick of the 49ers, the Cowboys made a questionable trade for Lance two years ago, paying his rookie contract and having him serve as the No. 3 quarterback.

Lance is an excellent runner with a strong arm, but he has a long way to go before he proves he is an NFL starting quarterback. The 49ers gave up on Lance after eight games and four starts despite moving up in the draft for him in 2021.

While seeing what Lance can do is the right move, it sounds more like the Cowboys want to avoid paying Rush a $500,000 bonus for participating in 55% of Dallas’ offensive snaps in 2024. Rush earned $250K of that bonus for playing 45% of the offensive snaps. He’s currently at 52.3% for the season.

Some things will never change.

Meanwhile, the Commanders have several players looking to earn achievable incentives in Sunday’s game. Do you think owner Josh Harris would tell coach Dan Quinn to bench Dante Fowler, Zach Ertz, or Frankie Luvu? Of course not. The former owner would have, you know, Jerry Jones’ buddy.

Benched and Burned: How Trey Lance became a victim of Cowboys’ indecision

Trey Lance’s story is cautionary tale of how easily NFL players lose value and how little it matters whose fault it is when that happens. | From @BtchesLuvSports

It was just three offseasons ago when Trey Lance entered the NFL as a walking highlight reel—a quarterback dripping with potential and hype. Development now stalled, Lance is stuck on the Dallas Cowboys’ bench as the 2024 season winds down; reputation bruised and financial prospects bleak.

The $22.4 million fifth-year team option from his rookie deal? Forget it.

Even this year’s $5.3 million base salary has been labeled an overpayment. From a value-theory perspective, one has to wonder: Is Lance depreciating due to his own shortcomings, or has institutional neglect fostered his fall?

Trey Lance: A Gamble Gone Wrong or Neglected Potential?

Drafted third overall in 2021, Lance was a gamble from the start. Critics warned of his raw mechanics and limited experience at North Dakota State, but NFL analysts couldn’t resist his rocket arm and dual-threat potential.

Zack Hicks hit the nail on the head; “If he is rushed into action with a weak supporting cast, it could kill his NFL career. If he ends up in a good situation that takes the time to develop him and work with him and has a proper plan in place… he could be outstanding.”

San Francisco seemed to have such a plan in place—until injuries and the Brock Purdy Cinderella story shoved Lance aside. The trade to Dallas was supposed to be a fresh start. Instead, it’s been more of a slow fade.

Despite Mike McCarthy’s sermon about the importance of game reps and building chemistry with receiving targets for a quarterback’s development, Lance’s opportunities have been virtually nonexistent.

With the Cowboys limping out of playoff contention, Dak Prescott sidelined for the season, and Cooper Rush serving as a serviceable-but-meh QB1, the stars seemed aligned for Lance to finally get some meaningful snaps. Instead, what Lance got was the equivalent of crumbs—and stale ones at that.

Take the Texans loss, for example. Mike McCarthy admitted after the game that he regretted not giving Lance even a single series. Regret is nice, but it didn’t change the trend: Lance sits while the Cowboys fumble opportunities to develop him.

Week 17 against Philadelphia was the tipping point. No playoff hopes. Cooper Rush struggling. An offense producing nothing but turnovers. It was the perfect moment to give Lance a real shot. Instead, he got three garbage-time snaps in a game that was long lost. Fans had tuned out before he ever hit the field, and who could blame them?

McCarthy expressed regret, once again, claiming he considered inserting Lance one series earlier. That still would’ve been too little, too late.

Besides, the real question isn’t about Sunday’s game but the recurring refusal to give Lance the reps he so desperately needs to develop.

A Bleak Free Agency Ahead

It’s not just about this week or this season. The lack of playtime has far-reaching consequences. Lance is now seen as a “bust” not because of what he’s done but because of what he hasn’t been allowed to do.

Sure, entering the draft with so little college experience was a gamble on his part. And yes, his five interceptions in his only preseason start with the Cowboys didn’t help his case.

But when NFL teams bring in a raw talent like Lance with no real plan for development, the responsibility shifts. One could say the system failed him, but the existence of that system in the NFL is looking more and more like a myth.

What will this mean for the soon-to-be free agent? The promise of professional opportunity and financial gain that likely lured him to declaring for the draft in the first place is slipping away.

As he heads toward unrestricted free agency in March, Lance’s story becomes a cautionary tale of how easy it is for NFL players to lose value and how little it matters whose fault it is when that happens.

There’s one last chance for Lance to get meaningful reps and remind NFL fans—and front offices—that he still has potential: Sunday’s season finale against the Washington Commanders.

When asked in Sunday night’s press conference who would lead the offense, Mike McCarthy played coy. For Lance’s sake, let’s hope his decision doesn’t lead to yet another postgame presser with words of regret.

Sights and sounds from first half as Eagles hold a 24-7 lead over the Cowboys

Sights and sounds from first half as Eagles hold a 24-7 lead over the Cowboys

It was another disastrous first quarter, but the Eagles’ defense found their footing, and Kenny Pickett discovered a connection with DeVonta Smith. Buoyed by two C.J. Gardner-Johnson interceptions, Philadelphia found their rhythm and held a 24-7 lead over the Cowboys in the first half.

An Eagles win Locks up the NFC East and the No. 2 seed in the conference while allowing Jalen Hurts another week to recover from his concussion.

With the second half set to begin, here are ten takeaways from the first half.

***

Is Trey Lance playing today? Update for Cowboys backup QB

Here’s the latest narrative surrounding Lance’s shot to play in Week 17 against the Philadelphia Eagles. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys 2024 season is mercifully coming to an end. There are now just eight days and two games remaining on the schedule, with the club being eliminated from the playoffs last week before they took to the field. The coaching staff, led by Mike McCarthy, deserves kudos for keeping the team engaged despite this fate being pretty much inevitable since early November.

Dallas started out with a 3-7 record, but they fought for four wins in their last five games with the only defeat being a fluke, bone-headed late game screwup on a special teams play. With the club not being mathematically eliminated until Week 16, they approached their roster from the perspective of winning being the most important thing.

Even though they were eliminated before they took the field against Tampa Bay last week, their week of preparation was done with the possibility they could still pull off a miracle. That hope is gone now, and it may impact whether or not fans get a regular-season glimpse of backup QB Trey Lance.

Dallas sent a fourth-round pick to San Francisco in exchange for Lance, who was the No. 3 overall pick in 2021 for the 49ers. He wa unable to unseat Cooper Rush for the role of Dak Prescott’s backup and now is just eight days away from the end of his contract.

The Cowboys have never tried to utilize his skillset as a running threat, not even in the vein of how the New Orleans Saints have deployed Taysom Hill over the years.

The offseason was a maddening experience for the fanbase, as the club failed to not only avoid signing any impact free agents from the outside, but also failed to bring back many of their own. With contract extensions looming over their biggest stars in Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons, the coaching staff were all on lame duck status.

All in all, it forced several fans to be lose interest in the brand. One thing that united fans, though, especially under the looming 2025 of Prescott (at the time) was whether or not Lance had what it took to be the next franchise quarterback. Acquired towards the end of the 2023 offseason, Lance didn’t play that year, so no one really knew what to expect from him.

As head coach Mike McCarthy avoids playing his stars in the preseason, Lance got plenty of snaps in the exhibitions and acquitted himself relatively well until the final performance when he bombed. He really hasn’t been seen since, which in a lost season where Prescott has been out with injury has frustrated fans even more.

Nothing crystalized this animosity more than in Week 11, when in a blowout loss to the Houston Texans where Cooper Rush struggled mightily, McCarthy refused to let Lance get snaps.

Now eliminated, the subject returns.

Lance is a free agent, as is current starter Cooper Rush, in 2025. Rush’s ceiling is obvious; the offense is ridiculously dumbed down due to his arm talent limitations and lack of athleticism. Lance offers upside in that regard, with nowhere near the polish or experience Rush brings to the table. But with nothing to play for but intel, there’s no reason not to give Lance snaps that count.

Is Trey Lance playing today? Update for Cowboys backup QB

Here’s the latest narrative surrounding Lance’s shot to play in Week 16 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys 2024 season has been a total mess from the get go. It may effectively be put out of its misery on Sunday, and possibly before Dallas even takes the field. Part of Sunday Night Football, the Cowboys could be officially eliminated from the playoffs if Washington can beat Philadelphia earlier in the day. If so, then the direction of who should see the field in the final three weeks should change.

And that could impact whether or not Trey Lance sees the field on Sunday night.

The offseason was a maddening experience for the fanbase, as the club failed to not only avoid signing any impact free agents from the outside, but also failed to bring back many of their own. With contract extensions looming over their biggest stars in Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons, the coaching staff were all on lame duck status.

All in all, it forced several fans to be lose interest in the brand. One thing that united fans, though, especially under the looming 2025 of Prescott (at the time) was whether or not Lance had what it took to be the next franchise quarterback. Acquired towards the end of the 2023 offseason, Lance didn’t play that year, so no one really knew what to expect from the former No. 3 overall pick the Cowboys traded a 2024 fourth-round pick for.

As head coach Mike McCarthy avoids playing his stars in the preseason, Lance got plenty of snaps in the exhibitions and acquitted himself relatively well until the final performance when he bombed. He really hasn’t been seen since, which in a lost season where Prescott has been out with injury has frustrated fans even more.

Nothing crystalized this animosity more than in Week 11, when in a blowout loss to the Houston Texans where Cooper Rush struggled mightily, McCarthy refused to let Lance get snaps.

Now, with elimination right around the corner, the subject returns. In the last month or so, owner Jerry Jones has hinted that McCarthy might not be five-and-done as the head coach. Don’t believe it.

McCarthy and his staff are likely goners and as such, have no vested interest in playing guys so the front office and the next coaching staff has a better understanding of what they may have.

Lance is a free agent, as is current starter Cooper Rush, in 2025. Rush’s ceiling is obvious; the offense is ridiculously dumbed down due to his arm talent limitations and lack of athleticism. Lance offers upside in that regard, with nowhere near the polish or experience Rush brings to the table.

If the season is officially over before they take the field, fans hope Lance is given a shot to show what he can do.