If Trey Lance is looking for a career reboot, there are probably a lot worse places he could do it than with the Washington Commanders.
While Lance looks for a new home — and his third team in five years — Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox believes Lance should be an option for the Commanders as their third emergency quarterback in 2025.
“While quarterback Trey Lance is far from a surefire starter, the third overall pick in the 2021 draft still carries an intriguing amount of upside,” Knox wrote on March 16. “He didn’t work out with the San Francisco 49ers, and he never really got an opportunity with the Dallas Cowboys … In Baltimore or Washington, Lance could sit and learn behind a quarterback with similar physical tools. He could also be utilized occasionally in obvious running situations.”
The Commanders have not only one of the NFL’s best young quarterbacks but one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks, full stop, in 2024 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels. They’re also a Super Bowl contender after making the NFC Championship Game with a patchwork roster in 2024 and reloading this offseason.
“You don’t want to take a QB like Jayden Daniels or Lamar Jackson off the field often, but there would be little downside to having them take fewer hits over the course of a season,” Knox wrote.
Commanders Brought Back QB2 Mariota on New Contract
The Commanders have their QB room back from 2024 — the most important parts at least — with Daniels, backup Marcus Mariota and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury turning down head coaching offers to coach the Commanders one more year, at least.
Mariota signed a 1-year, $8 million contract on March 12 after playing 2024 on a 1-year, $6 million contract. Wherever Lance lands in 2024 it’s likely going to be on a “prove-it” contract — imagine something along the lines of a 1-year, $1.5 million offer.
Injury Sent Lance’s Career in Another Direction
Lance is a free agent after playing out the 4-year, $34.1 million contract he signed with the 49ers after he was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft out of North Dakota State.
Lance started just 2 games in 2022 before he suffered a season-ending ankle injury and had to watch as Brock Purdy guided the 49ers to the NFC Championship Game that season then the Super Bowl following the 2023 season.
Purdy was the final pick in the 2022 NFL draft out of Iowa State — “Mr. Irrelevant” — and Spotrac projects he’s in line for a 4-year, $239.8 million contract extension this offseason that would pay him $59.7 million per year.
Lance can look at another quarterback from the doomed 2021 draft as inspiration for how his career can get back on track after No. 2 overall pick Zach Wilson was traded from the Jets to the Denver Broncos and spent the 2024 season as the third emergency quarterback behind rookie Bo Nix and backup Jarrett Stidham.
Wilson performed well enough in the preseason and was a great teammate during the regular season, by all appearances, that he turned it into a 1-year, $6 million free agent contract to be QB2 for the Miami Dolphins in 2025.
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