Trey Lance trade should be thrown relentlessly at one team by Cowboys

While there may have been a constructed narrative that the Dallas Cowboys were letting Cooper Rush and former No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance battle it out in training camp and the preseason to be Dak Prescott's backup, the simple truth is that's never been the case. Rush is established, comfortable and steady as the backup in Dallas while Lance, though talented, remains unpolished and volatile.

As such, trading Lance has always been an enticing option for the Cowboys -- even with Jerry Jones all but guaranteeing him a roster spot -- though they also needed help from the former 49ers signal-caller to make that a viable option. Specifically, for there to be a lucrative market for Lance, he needed to have a stellar preseason.

There were ups and downs, including a truly nice Week 2 preseason outing, that made that seem like a possibility. But Saturday's preseason finale raised some real questions about how viable that might be as all of the rollercoaster ride was basically on display. Lance flashed some truly elite playmaking ability but also tossed two brutal interceptions and fumbled twice (though the Cowboys recovered both).

It's basically set in stone that Rush is QB2 but what happens with Lance is the great mystery. However, if the Cowboys still are aiming to trade the former top pick who they landed prior to the start of last season, then there's one team they should be blowing up the phone of to make it happen: the Las Vegas Raiders.

Cowboys need to push Trey Lance trade on Raiders

Most teams shuffling the roster at this point at quarterback are looking for a backup option that's simply more reliable than the players they currently have in the building. Lance is not that at this point. His mobility and raw tools as a passer are extremely enticing but he simply hasn't been given opportunities to develop fully, whether in San Francisco or Dallas.

The Raiders, however, could afford him that opportunity. Las Vegas had a quarterback battle of their own this preseason with Gardner Minshew beating out 2023 fifth-rounder Aidan O'Connell. The result of that battle, however, indicates that the new Raiders regime could be uninterested in O'Connell as a viable long-term option, whereas Minshew basically has "stopgap quarterback" written in his NFL bio at this point in his career.

Taking that into account, would it not then make sense for a franchise that's clearly rebuilding right now to take a flier on Lance? The Cowboys, if they were to trade him, should neve expect to get any significant draft capital in return. We're talking a late-Day 3 pick and potentially another one in 2026 to push the trade through. Eyeing the upside that's so obvious with Lance, that could be worth it for the Silver and Black.

Lance offers a potential future at quarterback for Las Vegas that they simply don't have on the roster as currently constructed. It might not work out, to be sure, but it's a worthwhile chance to take with low risk involved. That's something that the Cowboys should be trying to sell right out of the gate before cutdown day on Tuesday, Aug. 27 as well as a conversation that the Raiders should be more than willing to partake in.