Cowboys Reveal Their Plan for Trey Lance

Earlier this month, the Dallas Cowboys unsurprisingly declined the fifth-year option for former first-round pick Trey Lance, who they acquired in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers last offseason.

Lance didn’t play at all last season with the Cowboys as he was the third quarterback behind Dak Prescott and Cooper Rush. The former North Dakota State quarterback enters this season as the third-string signal caller again. 

However, Cowboys offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer has big plans for the former third-overall pick and wants to get him as many reps as possible.

“The guys obviously an unbelievable athlete but we need to get him the reps,” Schottenheimer said (h/t Clarence Hill of Ft. Worth Star-Telegram). “How do you learn to play the position of quarterback, unless you’re playing right.”

Schottenheimer brings up a great point about the reps as Lance has only played in eight career games and thrown 102 pass attempts since being drafted in 2021. That’s not nearly enough for any quarterback no matter what league you are in.

It also doesn’t help that Lance only played in 19 career games (17 starts) at North Dakota State, including one full season in 2019.

"“We know Dak. We know Coop. He [Lance] is the question mark." “There’s so much he doesn’t know that he’s got to figure out. And so that’s what’s exciting about that if he can be he can be a really good player because he’s wired the right way and the way he works. We just got to give them the opportunity to show us that with the year under his belt and being comfortable.”"

- Brian Schottenheimer on Trey Lance

“It’s gonna be all about getting him a ton of reps throughout OTAs, mini camp, and then training camp. You’re gonna see him getting a ton right leading into the preseason.”

With Prescott and Rush scheduled to become unrestricted free agents next offseason, Lance has a great opportunity this summer to show the Cowboys’ front office that he deserves to be on the roster for 2025 and beyond.

We know Dallas likely won’t give a ton of snaps to Prescott in the preseason. Therefore, the former first-round pick will have ample opportunity to show that he’s become a better overall quarterback after sitting behind Prescott and Rush last season.

The talent is there with Lance as we saw briefly with the 49ers and at North Dakota State, he just needs the reps to become a starting-caliber quarterback in the NFL.

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