After losing a competition with Sam Darnold to be the backup quarterback for the the 49ers, former top-three draft pick Trey Lance is being traded to the Dallas Cowboys. Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The San Francisco 49ers are trading quarterback Trey Lance to the Dallas Cowboys, less than three years after trading three first-round picks to draft him.
A person familiar with the situation said the Cowboys will send a midround pick to San Francisco for a player drafted third overall in 2021. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal hasn’t been announced.
ESPN first reported the trade.
Lance lost the competition to Sam Darnold to be the backup to Brock Purdy in San Francisco earlier in the week, setting the stage for his departure.
The move is a remarkable turn following the hefty investment the Niners made in hopes of Lance becoming a franchise quarterback.
San Francisco traded three first-round picks and a third-rounder to Miami in 2021 to move up from No. 12 and draft the untested Lance.
Lance started only 17 games at FCS-level North Dakota State before the Niners drafted him, and he never got much of a chance to gain the experience he needed in the NFL.
He spent his rookie season backing up Jimmy Garoppolo, starting just two games as an injury replacement and being hampered by a finger injury on his throwing hand.
Lance was handed the starting job last season, but that lasted less than five quarters, as he broke his ankle early in Week 2 and was sidelined for the rest of the season.
Purdy, taken with the last draft pick in 2022, came on late in the season and won his first seven starts to take over the starting role.
GAMBLING: Detroit wide receiver Jameson Williams and Tennessee right tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere begin six-game suspensions Tuesday for betting at work. At least they’ll be able to rejoin their teams this season.
Other players caught up in a wave of gambling-related suspensions will be gone much longer, if they’re allowed to return at all.
Detroit cut three of Williams’ teammates in April. Indianapolis also released three players within hours of the NFL announcing their indefinite suspensions. Just before training camp, Denver defensive end Eyioma Uwazurike became the 10th player punished this year for either gambling on the NFL or other sports.
The punishments have led to an ongoing conversation about betting and the integrity of the game, attracted attention in Congress, and even prompted the NFL to get Tom Brady for a video on its gambling policy that rookies must watch as the league tries to clarify its rules. Players have noticed, and they say the NFL has done a much better job of educating them on exactly where and what they can bet on, especially helpful with smart phones and tablets making wagering so easy.
“They made what has been broken very clear – after the fact,” Detroit linebacker Alex Anzalone said.
The NFL’s mandated training this year included both league and NFL Players Association officials and emphasized six key rules:
• Don’t even think of betting on NFL games.
• Forget wagering on the draft, combine, Pro Bowl or the league’s annual awards.
• Someone else can’t place a bet for you.
• Don’t play fantasy football. Just ignore the NFL website that features a link for everyone else.
• No gambling while on team or league property with that always present phone. That includes the team facility, the team hotel, the team airplane, or even while making endorsement or promotional appearances.
“Last year, they didn’t give it to us like that,” Detroit cornerback Jerry Jacobs said of all those details. “They just told us we can’t gamble, but they didn’t tell us where.”
Yet even with more education, challenges will remain in a league with 18 teams in states where online sports betting is legal.
The Chiefs’ territory straddles two states, with sports betting legal in Kansas yet illegal in Missouri. Team President Mark Donovan said every employee goes through training each year, including seasonal workers.
“Eventually, someone’s going to get it …,” Donovan said. “You can have a seasonal (worker) that’s in Kansas on FanDuel. If he’s an employee of ours, that’s an issue, right?”
BRONCOS: Denver will light up the scoreboard at Empower Field at Mile High like never before this season – even if the Sean Payton/Russell Wilson pairing doesn’t produce a torrent of points.
The team unveiled its mammoth new scoreboard, a day before the Broncos play their preseason finale against the Los Angeles Rams.
The scoreboard is 225 feet wide and 72 feet high, making it the tallest in North America and 70% larger than the old scoreboard. Overall, it’s the fifth-largest scoreboard in the NFL.
It’s the crown jewel of a $100 million offseason upgrade to the 23-year-old stadium, although it doesn’t necessarily guarantee the team won’t bolt for the suburbs whenever a new stadium is needed.
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