Minnesota Vikings receive: 2024 Round 4 Pick, QB Trey Lance
San Francisco 49ers receive: EdgeDanielle Hunter
OK, we might as well make this interesting.
The San Francisco 49ers made it within a game of the Super Bowl again last year, but Trey Lance had little to do with that success. In fact, the prevailing opinion appears to be that once Brock Purdy's elbow is healthy, he will again start for the Niners.
And Lance (the player the 49ers traded three first-round picks to obtain in 2021) will be the NFL's most expensive (in terms of draft capital) clipboard-holder.
Given that reality, Kyle Madson of Niners Wire believes that theoretically at least, San Francisco might consider upgrading the pass rush and throwing in the towel on Lance.
"If San Francisco's coaching staff and front office have truly seen enough of Lance to believe he won't be their starter at any point," he said, "then it's easy to see them prioritizing their pass rush, making that move and relying on a Purdy-(Sam) Darnold-(Brandon) Allen trio to get them through the season. It'd be a pretty significant risk, but the 49ers have made it clear how valuable they think game-wrecking pass rushers are.
An extension for Hunter would be tricky for the 49ers, who still have to extend Nick Bosa and Brandon Aiyuk. But tricky isn't impossible, and pairing Hunter and Bosa outside and Hargrave and Arik Armstead inside would be a terrifying front four.
Assuming Kevin O' Connell believes he can turn Lance around, a Vikings team that appears to be rebuilding on the fly could get a successor to Kirk Cousins, who will be a free agent in 2024—a successor under team control through 2026 at a reasonable (for a quarterback) salary.
