49ers QB Trey Lance, 3rd overall draftee, signs rookie deal

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance signed his rookie contract Wednesday morning ahead of the team’s first practice of training camp.

Lance’s agency CAA made the announcement on Twitter before the team later confirmed it.

Selected No. 3 overall in the draft, Lance will receive a fully guaranteed four-year, $34.1 million deal. The Niners have the option to add a fifth year, as teams do with all first-rounders.

Lance practiced Wednesday and looked sharp, impressing coach Kyle Shanahan with a pair of deep balls to Deebo Samuel and George Kittle.

“It was the right spot to go with the ball both times,” Shanahan noted. “Deebo went by his guy and he made a perfect throw in stride. And then the one to Kittle was pretty good coverage but he gave him an opportunity ball and Kittle went up and made a play.”

Lance got reps with the second unit as Shanahan had promised on Tuesday, with Jimmy Garoppolo entrenched as the team's No. 1 QB to start the season.

”There’s no open competition right now in terms of getting equal reps with the same group,” Shanahan said. “Jimmy is coming in as the (No.) 1 and Trey is coming in as the 2.”

The coach did leave open the possibility of using the dual-threat Lance in specific situations, however.

“When you do have a quarterback who has the threat to run and who can make throws, that’s something that I would love to use,” Shanahan said.

Lance, 21, led North Dakota State to the 2019 FCS national title, throwing for 28 touchdowns and rushing for 14 more without a single interception. He earned the Walter Payton Award as the FCS’s top offensive player in ’19.

“He played the position like he’s been doing it for a while, even though he didn’t (play) a ton in college,” Shanahan praised. “That’s one of the things we were impressed with.”

Lance’s deal leaves New York Jets QB Zach Wilson, selected No. 2 overall, as the only remaining unsigned first-round draft pick.

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