Vikings escaped disaster by not trading for Cowboys QB in 2023

When the Minnesota Vikings were looking for a quarterback of the future last year, current Dallas Cowboys signal-caller Trey Lance was a popular target among fans.

The Marshall, Minnesota native had fallen out of favor with the San Francisco 49ers coaching staff, and many believed that a homecoming could revitalize his career and give the Vikings a long-term project.

But, following the 2024 preseason, it appears Minnesota has escaped a potential disaster, as Lance has already become one of the biggest draft busts of the past decade.

Trading for Dallas Cowboys QB Trey Lance could have drastically altered the future of the Minnesota Vikings

Lance was the third overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, and many were bullish on the North Dakota State product after he scored 42 total touchdowns (28 passing and 14 rushing) with no interceptions while leading the Bison to the FCS national championship in 2019.

Learning under one of the top offensive coaches in the NFL, Kyle Shanahan, many believed that Lance’s big arm would help him overtake Jimmy Garoppolo as the 49ers starting quarterback and help him become a star.

But Lance only made two starts in his rookie season with San Francisco, completing 57.7 percent of his passes for 603 yards, five touchdowns, and two interceptions. Then, in 2022, he lost his starting job after suffering a broken ankle in the second game of the regular season.

When Brock Purdy took over as the starter later that season, the rumor mill started spinning. A favorite pastime for Vikings fans was connecting the relationship behind Shanahan and Kirk Cousins, which once led to San Francisco even offering the No. 2 overall pick as part of a blockbuster trade offer to acquire Cousins from the year Washington Commanders in 2017.

If Shanahan’s admiration for Cousins reached extreme levels, some fans believed Minnesota could deal Cousins to San Francisco and acquire Lance in return. But that deal never happened, thanks to a no-trade clause in an extension Cousins signed in 2022.

When Lance couldn’t beat out Sam Darnold for the 49ers backup job before the 2023 season, the rumors heated up again before he was eventually traded to the Cowboys.

Then Dianna Russini of The Athletic reported the Vikings thought about trading for Lance after Kirk Cousins suffered a torn Achilles last October, and NFL Network's Rich Eisen speculated that Lance could wind up with Minnesota this offseason before they ended up signing Darnold and drafting J.J. McCarthy.

Throughout the speculation, you could talk yourself into Lance working out in Minnesota after his 2020 college season was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the only full game he played in during the 2022 season came in a monsoon against the Chicago Bears.

Still, the Vikings didn’t make the trade, and Lance backed up Dak Prescott last season in Dallas.

Perhaps another year to digest and take a deep breath could help Lance. But it didn’t look like it this preseason, completing 64 percent of his passes for 662 yards, two touchdowns, and five interceptions. Even worse? All five picks came in a disastrous preseason finale against the Los Angeles Chargers last Sunday.

Hindsight is 20/20, and as someone who banged the drum for Minnesota to make this move for Lance over the years, it could have been a disaster as he enters the 2024 season as the Cowboys' third-string quarterback behind Prescott and Cooper Rush (who Vikings fans have their own history with).

The Lance homecoming was over before it started for the Vikings and they are tremendously better off for it.

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