Trey Lance at a career crossroad after uneven 2024 preseason

Jesse Reed

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Trey Lance at a career crossroad after uneven 2024 preseason image

There is no doubt that Dallas Cowboys quarterback Trey Lance possesses tantalizing talent. But he's not ready yet.

After watching the fourth-year quarterback log extensive time in three preseason games this summer, it's clear he's still a work in progress. 

Lance's first preseason performance was problematic, no matter how you slice it. He completed 25-of-41 passes for just 188 yards and sprayed the ball all over the darn yard -- it was ugly. 

While inconsistent and continuing to struggle with accuracy at times in the second game, Lance did show a better command of the offense. He was more decisive in that game and finished with a better stat line: 151 yards and a touchdown on 15-of-23 passing.

Then on Saturday in the Cowboys' final preseason game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Lance played the entire game. It wasn't pretty. And then it got worse. 

After a strong start to open the game, Lance threw a bad interception in the second quarter that highlighted his greatest weakness -- location. 

Then, just to remind everyone why he was so coveted by Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers in the first place, he threw this gem of a touchdown on the next offensive possession. 

Just gorgeous. Put it right in the basket. 

One quarter later, however...

It's hard to figure out how Lance arrived at the decision to throw there. It's a worse turnover than the first, for sure. 

But it doesn't hold a candle to this one:

This is just how it goes with Lance -- a roller-coaster of ups and downs. This time, the downs were perilous, and frequent.

Lance finished the Cowboys' final preseason game with 323 yards on 33-of-49 passing with one touchdown and five interceptions. He also took three sacks and fumbled twice.

Not great, Bob! Not great! 

Throwing the football isn't the only thing Lance can do to keep the offense moving. His mobility is his best weapon, and Lance showed it off throughout the preseason. On Saturday he really took off, tallying 90 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.

All that is great.

However, Lance's inability to deliver balls on time, in stride to his receivers, while making smart decisions with the football, is a rather large problem. 

It's also important to qualify any stat-watching by saying the bulk of that work was done against Chargers players who won't be playing on Sundays this season. 

All the evidence tells us Lance is still very much a project for Mike McCarthy.

On the other side of this coin, the Cowboys appear to be completely comfortable with Cooper Rush as the backup quarterback to Dak Prescott.

"Cooper is the same man every single day," McCarthy told reporters recently. "He's super consistent, he's on top of his game, I think if you look at his snaps that he's had this year, it's definitely quality over quantity and that's by design."

The fact that Rush didn't even play in the final preseason game speaks volumes. 

So does this: According to Todd Archer of ESPN, McCarthy also highlighted Rush as one of two players who were having the best camp of their careers.

The Cowboys likely aren't going to cut Lance. They owe him $5.3 million this season, whether he's on the roster or not. Might as well keep him, barring a trade that makes sense for Dallas. He will run the scout team and be the third-string quarterback this season. 

It would be wrong to say Lance didn't give the Cowboys reason for some hope that he may develop into a viable player in the future. He's still just 24 years old, after all, and the kid hasn't played much meaningful football since 2019.

But it begs the question: If Lance can't benefit from the genius of Shanahan, and if he can't beat out Cooper Rush in Dallas after two seasons, what kind of future does he have in the NFL?

And when is he going to get all those in-game reps he needs to develop from a project into a legitimate option?

Time will tell. But that clock is ticking. 

Jesse Reed

Jesse Reed Photo

Jesse Reed is a passionate and avid NFL fan, first and foremost. He has been a professional writer for more than a decade with experience as a Managing Editor at Sportsnaut, where he was featured on Yardbarker and MSN.com. Previously, Jesse was a breaking news writer/NFL analyst for Bleacher Report. Follow him on X/Twitter at @JesseReed78.