NFL Rumors: 3 surprise teams that could trade for 49ers QB Trey Lance

NFL Rumors: Should Vikings take a swing at Trey Lance?

It’s no secret that Kirk Cousins time in Minnesota has an expiration date. Cousins has been a fine QB for the Vikings, especially of late, but he’ll want a contract that Kwesi Adofo-Mensah will not be willing to negotiate next offseason. After 2023, the rest of Cousins deal is void years, so the Vikings can save some cap space by either renegotiating that contract, or moving in a different direction.

Enter Lance, a player with plenty of potential who could probably use another year to recover from injury and learn Minnesota’s scheme. The Vikings have the draft picks to get this deal done, and they lack an obvious Cousins successor. It makes a lot of sense.

Lance grew up in Marshall, Minnesota, and as a hometown kid would immediately rile up the fanbase. It’s unclear exactly what the 49ers are asking for him, but should the price come down enough, it would be silly for Minnesota not to make the call.

As Viking Age’s Adam Patrick points out, the one complication with a trade for Lance is that by the time he starts, he’ll essentially be on an expiring contract:

"“Is there a scenario where the Vikings could trade for Lance and just have him sit behind Cousins for the 2023 season? Anything is possible, but it wouldn’t make a ton of sense to give up valuable draft capital for someone that won’t play until 2024 and could also potentially be off the roster by the 2025 offseason.”"

A potential solution to that problem would be to trade Cousins elsewhere, and allow Lance to learn on the job. With Minnesota signaling to rival teams that their veterans are for sale anyway, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that a trade for Lance would be the official start of the Vikings rebuild.