Dallas City News

Trey Lance’s first preseason with the Dallas Cowboys ended with a mixed performance last Saturday. While the quarterback made the roster, anything beyond this season is hard to predict. One key factor in whether or not Lance returns in 2025 could be if the team extends its relationship with head coach Mike McCarthy.

Like Lance, McCarthy’s contract is up after this season. The Cowboys have made it fairly clear that they’re putting McCarthy in the crucible, accepting the criticism about “lame duck status” so that the coach can fight for a new deal. It puts his future on the shakiest of grounds, perhaps needing nothing short of an NFC Championship Game appearance to maintain favor with the Jones family.

So why link McCarthy and Lance? He didn’t draft him, of course, and we don’t even know that McCarthy was necessarily in favor of the trade that brought Lance to Dallas. He might have been content to just keep riding with Dak Prescott and Cooper Rush while bringing in the occasional Ben DiNucci or Will Grier as a camp arm.

How much influence McCarthy has with front-office decisions is debatable. In the end, we know that Jerry and Stephen Jones ultimately decide who plays here and who doesn’t. But while McCarthy’s feelings about Lance may not really matter, his presence could have a bearing on whether or not the Joneses decide to bring Lance back.

One thing we do know about Lance is how he’s suffered from continuity issues since entering the league. The 49ers’ offensive coordinator during his rookie year was Mike McDaniel, who’s now coaching the Dolphins, and then Kyle Shanahan took over the offense. Lance barely got to play his second year after a major ankle injury in Week 2. With Brock Purdy’s surprising surge to the starting job, Lance returned with his job lost and eventually got traded to the Cowboys.

If there’s a big change for Dallas’ offense in 2025, that might devalue the idea of re-signing Lance. He needs structure and stability to keep developing, so an upheaval on the team might come with more of a reset at the quarterback position. Depending on how far the Cowboys go with that change, including Dak Prescott, Lance could easily get caught in the wave.

Lance’s best chance is that McCarthy and Prescott both stick around and he’s offered a chance to return and compete for the backup job. Cooper Rush is also a free agent in 2025 and could easily be re-signed, but the team will certainly consider other options as they did by trading for Lance in the first place.

Lance didn’t show enough this summer to be a viable starting candidate next year. But if another season of development with the same coaches could improve his vision and accuracy, coupling that with his clear athletic ability has a good chance at producing a quality backup. Lance will still be just 25 years old and with plenty of years left in the tank, provided he has enough game to justify sticking around.

Given that, the front office could still hold on to Trey Lance regardless of who’s coaching the team in 2025. But if Mike McCarthy’s gone then it feels like a lot will change on offense, and Lance may just be discarded at that point as a failed project from a past era. If he wants to get another contract from the Cowboys, Lance should probably hope that his head coach gets the same.