The Dallas Cowboys acquired quarterback Trey Lance from the San Francisco 49ers Friday. Trade rumors began swirling after Brock Purdy was named the 49ers starting QB and Sam Darnold earned the backup role. That placed Lance as San Francisco's third-string quarterback, a peculiar position for a player with such a high-ceiling. Now, Lance will have a fresh start in Dallas.

We are going to grade the 49ers-Cowboys Trey Lance trade in this article. First, let's take a look at the complete deal.

49ers-Cowboys Trey Lance trade

The 49ers received a fourth-round pick from the Cowboys for Lance, per Adam Schefter. It goes without saying, but 49ers fans may feel frustrated since Lance was a third overall NFL draft selection.

It became clear the 49ers gave up on Lance following the Darnold decision. In fact, they may have been ready to move on even sooner. Reports stated that San Francisco considered a trade earlier in the offseason but couldn't find a deal.

In the end, the 49ers decided to settle for a fourth-round pick from the Cowboys.

Without further ado, let's grade this trade.

Cowboys get Lance

Dak Prescott is going to deal with extra pressure following the trade. He's already dealt with questions and now with Lance in the picture, Prescott will need to perform especially well. At just 23-years old, there's a chance that Dallas may consider Lance the QB of the future.

Lance was a highly-regarded QB coming out of college. The 49ers ultimately selected him third overall as a result. He appeared in only eight games for the 49ers, however.

“Trey Lance played a total of 8 games with the 49ers. That is the fewest games played by a top 5 pick with the team he debuted with since the start of the common draft era in 1967,” reports Field Yates.

It wasn't Lance's fault though, as he struggled with injury concerns for much of his time in San Francisco. The 49ers even expected him to be the starting QB in 2022 before he suffered an early-season injury.

The trade to acquire him is a low-risk, high-reward move by the Cowboys. If Lance never finds his footing in Dallas, the Cowboys can comfortably move on after surrendering just a fourth-round pick. However, there's also a chance that Lance ends up playing a pivotal role for the Cowboys at some point down the road.

It's difficult to argue against Dallas' decision to make this deal.

49ers trade return, moving on from Lance

There isn't much to say about San Francisco's trade return. They will try to turn the fourth-round pick into a star, but that's really all they can do following the trade.

Moving on from Lance speaks volumes about the 49ers' feelings on Brock Purdy, however. Purdy took over QB1 duties after Jimmy Garoppolo, who initially replaced Lance in 2022, suffered an injury. Purdy performed well and displayed glimpses of becoming a reliable QB in the NFL.

In the end, the 49ers needed to choose between Purdy or Lance. San Francisco may have felt that both players are too young and talented to simply play a backup role. So instead of having Lance be Purdy's backup, San Francisco opted to sign Darnold and later trade Lance away.

Final trade grades

We could easily give the 49ers a brutal trade grade. But this boils down to their draft pick if anything. The trade itself, considering that Lance didn't provide much trade value coming off an injury, wasn't necessarily terrible. Still, there's no question that the Cowboys won this trade given Lance's star-studded ceiling.

49ers trade grade: C-

Cowboys trade grade: A-