Apparently all of the Trey Lance trade rumors were made up

One of the hotter rumors of the offseason prior to the 2023 NFL Draft was the Minnesota Vikings potentially being interested in making a trade with the San Francisco 49ers for quarterback Trey Lance, who has apparently fallen out of favor by the Bay just two years after the Niners gave up a boatload of draft capital to move up and select him at #3 overall. But nothing ever materialized because the Vikings weren’t that interested in Lance.

And, apparently, neither is anybody else.

On today’s episode of The Pat McAfee Show, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter kind of blew up the idea that there were heated trade discussions for Lance at any point this offseason.

“There was no trade market for Trey Lance and the 49ers didn’t have any trade talks with teams.” Sounds pretty definitive from where I’m sitting.

If the Vikings do have any interest in Lance, he might become available sooner rather than later for free (or, you know, whatever it might cost to sign him to a deal). Schefter also says that Lance isn’t just the backup to Lance, he’s the backup to the backup, as Sam Darnold currently occupies the #2 spot on the QB depth chart for San Francisco.

Given that there have been recent suggestions by some of the Really Smart Football People™ that a Trey Lance for Danielle Hunter deal could potentially be something that both teams are interested in, it doesn’t sound like something that’s even been discussed. That’s a good sign for the Vikings, given that Hunter is a very good football player and Lance is. . .apparently. . .not.

It just goes to show that you can screw up any pick in the first round of the NFL Draft, no matter how much capital you give up or how much of a “sure thing” someone is supposed to be. I’m not sure if Lance was ever considered a lock to be a star or anything, but after two years in the league he should certainly be above his current station. Whatever his potential is, it sounds as though his chances of reaching it in San Francisco are slim and that nobody wants to trade anything of value to find out if he can reach it with them.