According to all appearances, the San Francisco 49ers have been made offers to trade quarterback Trey Lance. What sounds absurd at first glance could make perfect sense for the 49ers

The news out of Santa Clara came out of nowhere.

As NFL insider Ian Rapoport reports, there are apparently trade offers for quarterback Trey Lance. And rather than immediately nip the speculation in the bud, the San Francisco 49ers are apparently listening to those offers quietly.

But why would the 49ers needlessly trade away a quarterback who cost them virtually nothing and for whom they still traded what felt like house and home to the Dolphins in 2021 just to make sure they got him?

Lance is the future – but when is the future?

Even when Lance was selected by the 49ers in the draft, it was really clear to everyone that the quarterback would take a long time to find his way in the NFL. He was labeled a “raw talent. “

Finally, he didn’t exactly play at the highest college level with the North Dakota Bisons, so he was usually physically superior to his opponents. In addition, he was only a one-season starter because of the Corona pandemic. Still, the 49ers tried their luck. That Lance was a gamble was predicted over and over again.

Two years later, Lance is only eight games (four starts) of experience later after a moderate and a very serious injury slowed him down. One of them he contracted because he wanted to try his head through the wall and threw himself into a crowd of opponents. Almost out of habit, that’s how he played in college.

But the NFL is not college. The opponents Lance faced in college are no match for the full athletes he faced in the NFL. The concern of many experts proved true.

“Availability is the best ability,” many coaches say. In German, availability is the best ability. And Lance, talented as he may be, is currently far too rarely available. Currently, there are also few signs that this might change in the near future.

The 49ers’ All-Star team can’t stay together forever

“Current” is the key word. Because currently, the 49ers have arguably the best team together individually. There really isn’t a position group or area of the field where never “Niners” don’t have a designated or already decorated All-Pro.

The one exception: quarterback. And as a young playmaker, Brock Purdy proved how to play clean, often flawless and also simple in 2022. Also called “Mr. Irrelevant,” he was the very last pick in the 2022 draft.

In no time, he not only took over the starter’s job from Jimmy Garoppolo (who in turn took it from Lance), he got officials and teammates behind him. “Right now, there’s little doubt that Brock Purdy is the starting quarterback for 2023,” Rapoport announced on “NFL Network”

That’s because the 49ers may have realized it, too: Purdy may not be as incredibly talented as Lance, but he seems like a better fit for this team. And he gives the 49ers the best chance to win the Super Bowl in the upcoming season. Because they won’t be able to afford many more seasons with this high of individual quality, that’s just the way business is.

The sooner the trade, the more it makes sense

So, should a team come along with the right offer, the 49ers would have to give it more than a passing thought. Most notably, the Minnesota Vikings have reportedly inquired about the third pick of 2021.

The Vikings are the blueprint of a team that could use Lance. A team that is quite competent, but also has its limitations due to its current quarterback.

Because apparently the feeling in Minneapolis is that with current QB Kirk Cousins, they can’t do more than the Divisional Round. And replacing a classic pocket quarterback with a dynamic, young, fearless and boisterous playmaker could unleash new energy there.

However, if the 49ers are truly committed to Purdy at quarterback, they would have to make the trade before this season. Only then will they get back anything close to what they once spent on Lance.