The San Francisco 49ers have made the blockbuster move to make Sam Darnold their backup, and are now actively shopping former third-overall pick Trey Lance.
Lance has been linked to the Minnesota Vikings since the news broke yesterday, and the talks don’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Natalie Miller of Touchdown Wire listed her top four trade destinations and the number one spot on her list goes to the Vikings.
“It is going to be imperative for Trey Lance’s career to find himself in a place with an offensive whiz and the ability to sit and learn a new system for at least a year, the Vikings fit both of those descriptors perfectly. Minnesota head coach Kevin O’Connell comes from the Sean McVay coaching tree, and is one of the better offensive minds in the league as shown by this Minnesota offense last season. Lance would have the opportunity to sit behind veteran leader Kirk Cousins who is essentially on a year-to-year contract with the team.
Should Lance land in Minnesota, he can learn under both Cousins and O’Connell with the notion that the offense will be altered the following season for him as the presumed starter should he impress.”
Lance does need to go to a system tailored to him. O’Connell is a great offensive mind, and given weapons like Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, it should make life easy for Lance if Kwesi Adofo-Mensah pulls the trigger.
Does it make sense for the Vikings? That’s a good discussion. There aren’t many better fits for the 23-year old quarterback. He grew up in Minnesota and went to school at Marshall High School. He is still relatively new to the position and needs more reps as a quarterback.
However, you don’t want to waste prime years of talents like Jefferson or Addison, especially while Addison is on his rookie contract. It will be interesting to see how Adofo-Mensah decides to go about the Lance situation and the quarterback situation as a whole.