The San Francisco 49ers made a big investment in Trey Lance when they traded four draft picks – including three first-round selections – to move up and select the North Dakota State quarterback with the No. 3 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
After watching most of his rookie season from the sideline, Lance was anointed the starting quarterback heading into the 2022 season. But a season-ending broken ankle in Week 2 has left his status with the 49ers in doubt.
After Brock Purdy‘s success last season, a lot of rumors are now swirling on if Lance is truly the future in San Francisco? We spoke to an oddsmaker at FOX Bet to see what he thinks.
[RELATED: Five teams that make sense to trade for Trey Lance]
With the NFL Draft recently completed and the 49ers passing on naming Lance QB1, here are the hypothetical odds at FOX Bet on Lance for next season.
TREY LANCE ODDS FOR 2023 TEAM
49ers: -300 (bet $10 to win $13.33 total)
Other: +240 (bet $10 to win $34 total)
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As you can see from the above odds, the rumors seem a little overblown, at least for now.
Now there are two schools of thought on Lance and the 49ers. One is, you can never have too many talented players in your QB room. The other view is the 49ers should cut their losses and trade Lance to recoup players and draft capital.
“Unless the 49ers get an offer too good to refuse, there is very little motivation for them to move off Lance considering Purdy’s timetable to return from injury is still very much up in the air,” FOX Bet Trading Operations Senior Manager Dylan Brossman said.
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Lance has minimal NFL experience after two seasons as he suffered a season-ending broken ankle on Sept. 18 which required two surgeries. In eight games – four starts – Lance is 56-for-102 passing (54.9%) for 797 yards, five touchdown passes, three interceptions and an 84.5 passer rating.
After Lance was hurt, the 49ers turned to previous starter Jimmy Garoppolo, who had the 49ers humming along when he suffered a season-ending broken foot in Week 13.
Thrust into the spotlight was rookie Purdy, who was best known at that point for being Mr. Irrelevant as the final pick in the draft. The 49ers kept rolling, winning 12 in a row until losing to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game.
That loss to the Eagles brought the 49ers quarterback room back into focus as San Francisco had to use fourth-string QB Josh Johnson. When Johnson suffered a concussion, that forced Purdy back in the game even though he couldn’t throw downfield.
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The team has announced Purdy will be the starter when he returns from offseason elbow surgery. The 49ers then added Jimmy G 2.0 by signing free agent Sam Darnold, who was the No. 3 pick by the Jets in 2018.
Where does that leave Lance?
General manager John Lynch said all the talk surrounding Lance is … well, just talk.
“I think there’s a lot of smoke really,” Lynch said. “It hasn’t been extremely active. It’s not like we’ve put it out there, ‘Hey, we’re taking calls for Trey, call 1-800…’ That’s not been the process.”
Purdy’s return is the big question mark, which has fueled the speculation about Lance.
“He won’t be able to do anything on the field, for who knows? It could go anywhere from six months to eight months,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said.
“… We’ll see at three months if he’ll be ready for camp, or if not, then perhaps we say it’s gonna go slow. It might be Week 1 and, at the latest, Week 4. It’s just all estimations, and we’ll see what happens.”
As Shanahan said, we’ll see what happens.
If you are looking to get some futures bets in on the Niners or the NFL, head over to FOX Bet for all your wagers.
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