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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Charlie Wilson

San Francisco 49ers stance is clear after receiving Trey Lance trade enquiries

The San Francisco 49ers essentially traded years of their future away to move up to select Trey Lance.

After Jimmy Garoppolo had taken the Niners to the Super Bowl, the team had seemingly reached their ceiling with him at quarterback - with arguably the best roster in the entire NFL.

Following a poor 2020 season, the Niners found themselves with a strong draft pick, but used it and two future first-round picks to move up to third overall.

It had been widely assumed that the move would be for Mac Jones - a tradition Kyle Shanahan-style quarterback. However, the Niners had their heads turned by the athleticism and raw ability of Lance.

Lance sat for his first season, before being given the starting spot at the beginning of 2022. In his first full game as a starter, the Niners lost to the Chicago Bears, before he suffered a season-ending injury in the second game of the year.

This saw Garoppolo re-enter the frame as quarterback, before he also suffered a season-ending injury - handing the reigns over to rookie Brock Purdy, who has never looked back.

Purdy went on to win all seven of his regular season games, before impressing in playoff wins over the Seattle Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys, before missing the majority of their loss to the Philadelphia Eagles after being injured himself.

With the emergence of Purdy, who the Niners have already indicated will be their starter, the front office might already be ready to move on from Lance.

Trey Lance and Brock Purdy will both look to win the starting job ... if they're both still on the roster in August (Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images)

Rapoport tweeted: "The 49ers have received inquiries from several teams looking into a potential trade for former No. 3 pick QB Trey Lance. The conversations have been the result of SF fielding the calls, not making them, with teams aware that Brock Purdy is likely the future starter.

"While no trade is imminent, and the 49ers would almost certainly want to make sure Brock Purdy's rehab continues to go as smoothly as it's been going, the interest from other teams in Lance has been there."

Moving on from Lance would go down as one of the worst trades in NFL history, but one the team can afford to make after miraculously finding Purdy in the seventh round of last year's draft.

Purdy had shown both the ability to win from the pocket as well as with his mobility, and executed the Niners' offense arguably better than both Garoppolo and Lance have been able to.

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