Trey Lance #5 of the San Francisco 49ers
The Niners are not giving up Lance to any team according to an unnamed general manager. Getty Images | Lachlan Cunningham

KEY POINTS

  • The 49ers may only trade Trey Lance if there's a lucrative offer to be made
  • Lance's injuries are a concern, but the team does not appear to be giving up on him
  • Brock Purdy will be a player to watch for San Francisco in the coming NFL season

It is no secret that the San Francisco 49ers are pinning their hopes on Trey Lance as the team's new star quarterback, but the only problem is that there have been road bumps along the way.

Regardless, this does not mean that the Niners are open to making a change and listening to offers for the 22-year-old play-caller.

After being named a starter last NFL season instead of Jimmy Garoppolo, Lance played in only two games after suffering a season-ending ankle injury against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2.

To make things worse, the third overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft needed to undergo a second surgery to remove the hardware that was causing irritation.

Despite these setbacks, it appears the 49ers are keeping the faith in Lance.

In fact, according to an anonymous general manager, it would take a pretty strong offer for them to even consider agreeing to any potential trade involving the Minnesota native.

"John [Lynch] taking calls on him was probably the worst kept secret since Indy," the anonymous executive told Jordan Schultz of The Score. "I know they've listened. Lance is still young and on a rookie deal. He's pretty talented. [Sam] Darnold has tons of incentives in his deal, and [Brock] Purdy has the elbow problem... I think it would take a pretty strong offer to get Lance."

This comes not long after the Niners have allegedly been receiving calls with regard to a potential trade involving Lance per a report by Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network.

"The conversations have been the result of SF fielding the calls, not making them, with teams aware that Brock Purdy is likely the future starter," the scribe wrote.

Jimmy Garoppolo ended up picking the slack for a while after Lance got injured. However, he suffered a season-ending broken foot in Week 13 that led to the Niners turning to Purdy.

Purdy started in the final five games of the regular season and completed 68.5% of his passes for 1,098 yards and 11 touchdowns against two interceptions.

It should be noted that the Iowa State product went undefeated when he started for the Niners, not to mention that he helped steer San Francisco to win the NFC West for the first time since 2019.

Trey Lance, San Francisco 49ers
Trey Lance is unlikely to be let go of the 49ers with reports that several NFL teams have been inquiring. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images