National Football League

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says Trey Lance will compete for QB2 behind Dak Prescott

Updated Mar. 8, 2024 7:12 p.m. ET

Though quarterback Trey Lance has yet to play a down in a regular-season game for the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones is holding on to his stock in the No. 3 overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft.

The Cowboys owner and general manager told reporters he doesn't regret giving up a fourth-round pick to acquire Lance in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers last year.

"The arrow's really up," Jones said about Lance. "He's exceeded expectations as a person, as a worker, as a character. He's got unique skills. He's very much what we had planned on, hoped. When we gave the pick, we knew we would be paying the bonus right now. That was a part of the same decision. That's been reinforced by what he's been with the team and the person he is, potentially the player."

Lance was Dallas' QB3 last year, but Jones stated that the 23-year-old North Dakota State product will battle Cooper Rush to back up starter Dak Prescott in 2024. With the Niners, Lance played in just eight games over two seasons, started four and had a 2-2 record.

"We don't know any more on the field, from the experience in games. We don't know any more than what we knew when we brought him on, and that is his college and his time in San Francisco," Jones said. "What we do know, though, is what he's done in practice. We don't know about his game experience, we don't know his competitive experience, but we do know about his practice experience, and the things he’s done there, it’s been all plus."

In Jerry World, you never know when Lance may be pressed into service. Heading into the new league year, the Cowboys are intimating that Prescott's long-discussed contract extension may not be coming in 2024. And when he signed his current four-year, $160 million deal back in 2021, he successfully negotiated for a no-trade clause and a no-tag clause. So if Prescott can't get a deal he wants in Dallas, the Cowboys can't do anything to stop him from hitting the open market in 2025.

Maybe by then the Cowboys will know what they have in Lance.

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