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Nick Wagoner, ESPN Staff Writer
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The competition to be the San Francisco 49ers‘ backup quarterback is over.
The 49ers are rolling with Sam Darnold as the No. 2 behind Brock Purdy and are exploring all options with Trey Lance, the No. 3 pick in the 2021 NFL draft, a source confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday.
Lance was not in attendance at the start of Wednesday’s practice.
With Purdy handling most of the starting duties since his return from a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, Darnold and Lance have been locked in a battle for the backup role throughout training camp.
On Tuesday, Niners coach Kyle Shanahan indicated he wasn’t ready to announce his No. 2 quarterback until closer to the start of the regular season, even going as far as to say he could alternate between backups depending on the week.
“I would think we’d probably announce it before we play Pittsburgh, but not this game,” Shanahan said.
Now, it appears the quarterback depth chart has taken shape with Purdy at the top, Darnold in the backup spot and a bit of uncertainty after that with Lance and veteran Brandon Allen still on the roster.
The Niners don’t plan to keep more than three quarterbacks on the active roster, which means one of them will have to go at some point. That player could be Lance, who a year ago at this time was heading into the season as San Francisco’s starter.
He suffered a broken right ankle in Week 2 and missed the rest of the season, allowing for Purdy’s ascent after leading the team to a 7-1 record as a starter and an appearance in the NFC Championship Game.
NFL Network first reported the news of the Niners exploring options with Lance.
Niners general manager John Lynch said before the NFL draft in April that he’d received interest from other teams about a possible trade for Lance. At the time, Lynch said it would take something “substantial” to part ways with Lance.
“Yeah, I think there’s a lot of smoke really,” Lynch said in April. “It hasn’t been extremely active and it’s not like we’ve put it out there that, ‘Hey, we’re taking offers for Trey.’ That’s not been the process. … It hasn’t been that substantive.”
But with Darnold stepping into the backup role, that smoke is likely to reappear. To this point in the preseason, there haven’t been any notable quarterback injuries elsewhere but teams have a better feel for the signal-callers on their roster.
If the 49ers trade Lance, he will count $5,540,956 in dead money over each of the next two seasons, and the team will save $3.76 million in 2023 and $5.31 million in 2024 against the salary cap.
If the Niners release Lance, he will count $14.61 million in dead money with no savings against the cap.
Another option would be for the Niners to keep Lance as the No. 3 quarterback. Since Shanahan and Lynch arrived in 2017, the team has had only one quarterback make it through an entire season healthy — Jimmy Garoppolo in 2019.
Purdy began last season as the No. 3 option behind Lance and Garoppolo, and the Niners had Josh Johnson as their fourth quarterback for the NFC Championship Game but still ran out of options because of injury. If the 49ers trade Lance, Allen could fill the No. 3 role.
After recovering from the ankle injury, Lance spent the offseason working to refine his mechanics with private quarterbacks coach Jeff Christensen. He came back with a quicker release but has had his ups and downs in camp and the preseason.
In last week’s exhibition game against the Denver Broncos, Lance started slow, throwing an interception on a screen pass, but finished strong, going 8-of-10 for 142 yards and a touchdown on the final two drives to set up a game-winning 32-yard field goal by rookie kicker Jake Moody.
On Tuesday, Shanahan noted the improvements he has seen from Lance.
“This offseason was just kind of getting healthy again and redefining how he throws, getting his balance,” Shanahan said. “I think Trey from when he got hurt to where he is now, I think it helped him.”
The 49ers signed Darnold early in free agency in March partly because they were unsure where Purdy’s recovery would take him, and because Lance had started just four games with 102 pass attempts in the NFL and was also coming off a significant injury.
Like Lance, Darnold is a former No. 3 overall pick (2018). Darnold struggled in previous stops with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers, throwing 55 interceptions in 56 games as those teams went 21-34 in his starts.
Darnold and Lance have taken turns with the backups throughout camp and the preseason, but Shanahan has been encouraged by what he’s seen from Darnold in terms of ball security and getting the ball where it needs to go.
“He’s been real consistent in everything. … He didn’t come in the first day just owning it all because you can’t when you don’t have the experience,” Shanahan said. “But each day that he’s done it, he’s gotten better and better and he just looks more and more comfortable in everything he is doing.”