In an offseason of big-name quarterbacks being connected to the Pittsburgh Steelers either in free agency, via trade or the 2024 NFL Draft as Pittsburgh continues to search for answers at the position, a new name unsurprisingly emerged Wednesday morning.
During an appearance on the 93.7 The Fan Morning Show Wednesday, former NFL GM Doug Whaley made the case for former No. 3 overall pick in Trey Lance, who is now a backup quarterback with the Dallas Cowboys after being traded by the San Francisco 49ers last August.
Whaley was posed the question by Morning Show co-host Adam Crowley about either Lance or New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones.
“Trey Lance gets me a little more excited because it brings a dynamic to the offense that they don’t really have. Now Kenny [Pickett] is mobile, but he’s not a threat. Now to bring in that threat, which coach [Mike] Tomlin has been on record saying this is something that he puts a lot of emphasis on and really enjoys and likes, is that threat of a quarterback running because it stresses the defense,” Whaley said of Lance as a potential option at quarterback for the Steelers.
Lance was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft behind Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson, landing with the 49ers after they made a surprise trade up, moving a bunch of draft capital to get a shot at either Lance or Jones.
GM John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan ultimately went with Lance, and it never really panned out.
Lance sat behind Jimmy Garoppolo in 2021, but saw action in six games, starting two. He went 1-1 as a starter in his rookie season, completing 57% of his passes while throwing for five touchdowns and two interceptions. He added 38 carries for 168 yards and one touchdown that season.
Entering 2022 he was expected to be the starter. Lance won the job in training camp but then struggled out of the gate, albeit in a monsoon in Chicago. In the season opener, though the 49ers won, Lance was just 13-of-28 for 164 yards and an interception while adding 13 carries for 54 yards.
In Week 2 against Seattle, Lance got off to a better start, completing two of his first three passes for 30 yards and adding three carries for 13 yards. Then he broke his ankle, ending his season and putting his tenure in San Francisco in question.
Coming back for 2023, Lance was in competition for the backup job behind Brock Purdy, but he was beaten out by Sam Darnold, leading to the 49ers flipping him to Dallas to back up Dak Prescott for a fourth-round pick.
Lance has one year left on his rookie deal and a fifth-year option available for $19.160 million, which will undoubtedly be declined, even after a trade.
He’s still relatively young — he turns 24 on May 9 — and has played just 263 career NFL snaps. His athleticism and physical traits could make him intriguing for the Steelers and give defensive coordinators something to game plan for, at least in Whaley’s eyes.
“So someone like that, and also his age being very young, still kind of new to the league, get him in the system and you can actually start having dedicated packages for him,” Whaley said of Lance. “I’m not saying have a two-quarterback system, but in certain situations, bring in Trey Lance, run some really quarterback-driven run plays and or put him out on the edge and give him the run-pass options putting some stress on the defense.”
It sounds good in theory, but Lance is on his second team and hasn’t really developed the way many expected him to coming out of North Dakota State after starting just one full season at the FCS school. He has all the physical traits in the world and remains that tantalizing piece, but he’s not a guy who could truly come in and compete against Kenny Pickett, pushing him for the potential starting job.
