Cowboys’ 2025 free agent profile: QB Trey Lance

The Dallas Cowboys have an extended record of unrestricted free brokers who will formally hit the open market in rather less than two months. Of these, six or seven had been vital contributors in 2024, that means the Cowboys have some tough selections forward of them within the coming weeks.

In the present day’s free agent profile sequence examines a participant who wasn’t a type of vital contributors as a result of he barely noticed the sphere final season. That might be quarterback Trey Lance.

Picture by Sam Hodde/Getty Photos

2024 Common Season Stats: 4G, 61% Completion Proportion, 266 Passing Yards, 13 1D, 40% Passing Success Price, 1 INT, 11 Speeding Makes an attempt, 41 Speeding Yards

Yr Overview: Trey Lance’s 2024 season with the Dallas Cowboys was characterised by restricted alternatives and blended performances. The 24-year-old quarterback, who the Cowboys acquired in August of 2023, spent almost everything of the common season as Dallas’ third-string quarterback.

Even when Dak Prescott went down with a season-ending harm in Week 9, Dallas refused to raise Lance to the beginning lineup, leaving him cemented behind Cooper Rush as their clear backup. Lance obtained some transient enjoying time throughout a blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 10, however after that, he didn’t see the sphere for a couple of snap till the ultimate week of the common season.

Dallas gave Lance an opportunity to start out their regular-season finale towards the Commanders, and the outcomes weren’t fairly. The previous first-round decide accomplished simply 20 of his 34 passes for 244 yards and persistently struggled to hit open receivers. Lance’s efficiency made it clear that he at present doesn’t possess the accuracy to grow to be a stating-caliber quarterback on the NFL degree.

The choice to commerce for Lance has all the time been a head-scratching transfer, however not enjoying him in a misplaced season till the 12 months’s remaining sport could also be much more complicated. Dallas had a golden alternative to provide Lance three or 4 begins down the stretch to see what he may do in an prolonged enjoying interval. As a substitute, they waited till the ultimate week of the 12 months and threw Lance to the hearth with out their finest offensive weapon in CeeDee Lamb.

Regardless, Lance didn’t benefit from the chance and capped off a really tumultuous season along with his poor exhibiting towards the Commanders.

Free Company Outlook: The Cowboys declined Lance’s fifth-year choice earlier than the beginning of the common season, so he’s set to grow to be an unrestricted free agent in March.

Given Lance’s lack of enjoying time, it’s onerous to mission what the quarterback’s market will appear like this spring. With a lot inexperience and on-field struggles when he did get an opportunity to play, it’s not going a workforce is keen to provide Lance a multi-year contract. The 24-year-old will doubtless must signal a one-year deal to hopefully function a workforce’s backup subsequent season.

Even with all of the negatives going towards him, there may nonetheless be some groups which might be infatuated with Lance’s potential. His mobility and athleticism might be an intriguing trait to a corporation that believes they might repair his accuracy points.

Final offseason, we noticed 23 quarterbacks signal free-agent offers. Regardless of Lance’s struggles, there’ll all the time be a requirement for good quarterback play, and groups will all the time be keen to provide gamers a second likelihood. Final spring, Mason Rudolph and Carson Wentz signed one-year offers price $2.8M and $3.2M, respectively. That is doubtless a great benchmark for the place Lance may find yourself AAV-wise on a possible one-year deal.

Cowboys Verdict: When the Cowboys traded for Trey Lance again in August 2023, the transfer made little to no sense. In the present day, the identical factor rings true, and his time in Dallas has virtually definitely come to an finish.

With all Dallas’ different wants to handle this offseason, it’s onerous to see them allocating even a small quantity of cap area to deliver again Lance and have him function their backup or third-string quarterback. To make a Lance return much more unlikely, Dallas’ long-time backup quarterback, Cooper Rush, can also be a free agent this offseason.

Except a workforce provides Rush a deal to let him compete for a beginning spot, there’s nearly zero likelihood Dallas would select to deliver Lance again over the veteran. Whereas Rush has not lit the world on fireplace when he crammed in because the starter, he has received some video games, and proper or incorrect, the group has loads of religion in his potential to regular the ship if Dak Prescott is to go down once more.

General, Trey Lance’s tenure as a Dallas Cowboy will finish with extra questions than solutions, as the previous first-round decide will seek for his subsequent alternative this March.

Prediction: Trey Lance indicators a one-year, $2.5M take care of the New York Jets