The Cowboys sent the 49ers a fourth-round pick for Trey Lance in August; the parties are going into their second season together. No immediate plans for a third will be in place, Sam Robinson of Pro Football Rumors reports.

Even with Lance’s participation rate qualifying him for the bottom tier of the fifth-year option structure, exercising it would cost the Cowboys $22.41MM. The former No. 3 overall pick will instead, as expected, move into a contract year. The Cowboys are declining Lance’s 2025 option, ESPN.com’s Todd Archer reports.

Plans for Lance remain unclear for the Cowboys, who are effectively renting the one-year North Dakota State standout as a project on a depth chart headlined by Dak Prescott but still including Cooper Rush. The latter’s contract calls for a $2.25MM base salary. Lance is due a $1.1 million base salary, but the Cowboys picked up a guaranteed roster bonus worth $4.25 million in March.

As it stands, Lance is on track to become one of the biggest draft busts in NFL history. After turning to Lance as their Week 1 starter in 2022, the 49ers reversed course following an ankle injury that required two surgeries. Lance could not beat out Sam Darnold for San Francisco’s backup job last year, and the team kept Brandon Allen as its third-stringer. While Brock Purdy has bailed out the 49ers, they sacrificed two future first-round picks and a third to move up — from No. 12 to No. 3 — for Lance three years ago. Purdy has allowed San Francisco to move on rather cleanly, but Lance’s future is cloudy.

This year will be a bit different for Lance, as he will go into the preseason with the Cowboys. He arrived in Dallas after the 2023 preseason slate wrapped, but he and Rush stand to see extensive time during the Cowboys’ August tilts this preseason. The Cowboys have liked what they’ve seen from Lance in practice, per Archer, and will be ready to give him plenty of run in the preseason. That said, Lance was inactive for every Cowboys game last season.

d lead to a reworking of the offseason schedule in which the league might hold a major 'tentpole' event in each month" -- the scouting combine in March, free agency in April and the NFL Draft in May

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/theredzoneorg 
  
Don't forget to follow us on Threads at https://www.threads.net/@theredzoneorg 
    
Like us on Facebook at http://facebook.com/Theredzone.org