Stephen Jones: Cowboys look to draft QB, ready to let Trey Lance walk
The Trey Lance Experiment in Dallas appears to be over.
After giving San Francisco a fourth-round draft pick in 2023 to acquire the young quarterback, the Cowboys appear to be ready to move on from 2021’s third overall selection.
Lance was a largely unproven commodity when the Cowboys made the move. In many ways, he still is, having seen only limited time on the field during his 18 months in Dallas, even after 2024’s season-ending injury to starter Dak Prescott.
Lance made four game appearances and started just once, in the regular-season finale versus Washington in January. As a Cowboy, he went 25-of-41 passing for 266 yards and an interception. He added another 41 rushing yards on 11 carries.
But after a grand total of 98 snaps in games that actually counted, the Cowboys have seen enough and will let Lance become a free agent.
Team executive vice president Stephen Jones all but confirmed the change of direction Monday in Indianapolis as the NFL’s annual scouting combine kicked off.
“We took a shot a Trey and wanted to do that,” Jones told The Dallas Morning News. “We think the world of Trey. But us having Dak signed up for the long-term, I think he’s probably going to be looking for something different.”
The Cowboys apparently are, too. Jones went on to say that a new quarterback will be on the team’s shopping list in this year’s draft, with new head coach Brian Schottenheimer and QB coach Steve Shimko looking for a new project arm to sit behind Prescott.
“You know, I think one of our goals is to get a young quarterback in the draft,” Jones said. “I don’t know where that’s going to be. That’s why we gave a [fourth-rounder] for Trey. It seems like all the quarterbacks, even guys we have in the fourth round, go in the first. They always go so much higher than what you think.”
Cooper Rush has served as the primary backup for Prescott for most of his eight years as a pro and gone 9-5 as a fill-in starter, but he’s also set to enter free agency. The club is bracing for the longtime understudy to receive considerable interest on the open market.
“You know how much we think of Cooper,” Jones said. “We just don’t know what he’s going to cost.”
Will Grier had his contract extended in early January and is the only quarterback other than Prescott the Cowboys currently have on the roster.
And Prescott will be coming off that partial avulsion of his hamstring suffered in November. While he has been seen recently without crutches or a brace, the highest-paid player in the NFL said, 12 weeks post-surgery, “I’m really looking to amp it up and gather all my confidence.”
But whether he’ll really be 100% for training camp- or even the regular season- remains to be seen. It’s not unthinkable that the team goes into the 2025 season with Prescott still ramping back up to form, Grier as QB2, and a brand-new rookie as the emergency third-stringer.
It’s a thin plan at the most important position on the field, but it seems the Joneses see no easy way around it, despite hints that the organization would be more aggressive in free agency than in years past.
“When we’re paying Dak what we’re paying him, unfortunately we do have to go cheap there.”
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