Trey Lance is among the Dallas Cowboys free agents this offseason.
The Dallas Cowboys have a long list of unrestricted free agents who will officially hit the open market in a little less than two months. Of those, six or seven were significant contributors in 2024, meaning the Cowboys have some difficult decisions ahead of them in the coming weeks.
Today’s free agent profile series examines a player who wasn’t one of those significant contributors because he barely saw the field last season. That would be quarterback Trey Lance.
Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images
2024 Regular Season Stats: 4G, 61% Completion Percentage, 266 Passing Yards, 13 1D, 40% Passing Success Rate, 1 INT, 11 Rushing Attempts, 41 Rushing Yards
Year Review: Trey Lance’s 2024 season with the Dallas Cowboys was characterized by limited opportunities and mixed performances. The 24-year-old quarterback, who the Cowboys acquired in August of 2023, spent nearly the entirety of the regular season as Dallas’ third-string quarterback.
Even when Dak Prescott went down with a season-ending injury in Week 9, Dallas refused to elevate Lance to the starting lineup, leaving him cemented behind Cooper Rush as their clear backup. Lance got some brief playing time during a blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 10, but after that, he did not see the field for more than one snap until the final week of the regular season.
Dallas gave Lance a chance to start their regular-season finale against the Commanders, and the results were not pretty. The former first-round pick completed just 20 of his 34 passes for 244 yards and consistently struggled to hit open receivers. Lance’s performance made it clear that he currently does not possess the accuracy to become a stating-caliber quarterback at the NFL level.
The decision to trade for Lance has always been a head-scratching move, but not playing him in a lost season until the year’s final game may be even more confusing. Dallas had a golden opportunity to give Lance three or four starts down the stretch to see what he could do in an extended playing period. Instead, they waited until the final week of the year and threw Lance to the fire without their best offensive weapon in CeeDee Lamb.
Regardless, Lance did not take advantage of the opportunity and capped off a very tumultuous season with his poor showing against the Commanders.
Free Agency Outlook: The Cowboys declined Lance’s fifth-year option before the start of the regular season, so he is set to become an unrestricted free agent in March.
Given Lance’s lack of playing time, it’s hard to project what the quarterback’s market will look like this spring. With so much inexperience and on-field struggles when he did get a chance to play, it’s not likely a team is willing to give Lance a multi-year contract. The 24-year-old will likely have to sign a one-year deal to hopefully serve as a team’s backup next season.
Even with all the negatives going against him, there could still be some teams that are infatuated with Lance’s potential. His mobility and athleticism could be an intriguing trait to an organization that believes they could fix his accuracy issues.
Last offseason, we saw 23 quarterbacks sign free-agent deals. Despite Lance’s struggles, there will always be a demand for good quarterback play, and teams will always be willing to give players a second chance. Last spring, Mason Rudolph and Carson Wentz signed one-year deals worth $2.8M and $3.2M, respectively. This is likely a good benchmark for where Lance could end up AAV-wise on a potential one-year deal.
Cowboys Verdict: When the Cowboys traded for Trey Lance back in August 2023, the move made little to no sense. Today, the same thing rings true, and his time in Dallas has almost certainly come to an end.
With all Dallas’ other needs to address this offseason, it’s hard to see them allocating even a small amount of cap space to bring back Lance and have him serve as their backup or third-string quarterback. To make a Lance return even more unlikely, Dallas’ long-time backup quarterback, Cooper Rush, is also a free agent this offseason.
Unless a team gives Rush a deal to let him compete for a starting spot, there’s virtually zero chance Dallas would choose to bring Lance back over the veteran. While Rush has not lit the world on fire when he filled in as the starter, he has won some games, and right or wrong, the organization has plenty of faith in his ability to steady the ship if Dak Prescott is to go down again.
Overall, Trey Lance’s tenure as a Dallas Cowboy will end with more questions than answers, as the former first-round pick will search for his next opportunity this March.
Prediction: Trey Lance signs a one-year, $2.5M deal with the New York Jets
