Cowboys QB Dak Prescott feels for Will Grier after Trey Lance deal, not worried about future in Dallas
The Cowboys landed Trey Lance in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers on Friday
The Dallas Cowboys may have made a move for Trey Lance, but Dak Prescott isn’t sweating his future in Dallas.
Prescott is signed to the Cowboys through the end of next season, and the team has said it wants to sign him to an extension. Though Lance hasn’t seen the field much during his time in the league, his presence in Dallas could impact Prescott’s next contract with the team.
For now, though, he’s ignoring that.
“I’m going to leave those talks in the office where business is handled,” Prescott said Saturday night, via ESPN’s Todd Archer.
The Cowboys landed Lance in a deal with the San Francisco 49ers on Friday in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick. Lance, the former No. 3 overall pick in 2021, has played in eight games and made four starts in San Francisco. He spent nearly all of his rookie season backing up Jimmy Garoppolo, and then broke his ankle during his second start last season.
Lance will now presumably be the Cowboys’ third-string quarterback, behind Prescott and veteran backup Cooper Rush. It’s easy to see a world where Lance jumps Rush and becomes Prescott’s backup in the near future, though that’s unlikely to happen right away. Lance was someone the Cowboys had their eye on in the 2021 draft. He’s not just a backup quarterback upgrade, something Dallas didn’t need to do this offseason.
Prescott, who threw for 2,860 yards, 23 touchdowns and a career-high 15 interceptions last season, has spent his entire career in Dallas. The 30-year-old is entering the third year of his four-year, $160 million deal this fall.
Prescott said he wasn’t given any warning that the Cowboys were planning to bring in another quarterback ahead of time on Saturday, but that he wasn’t surprised. It wasn’t just Prescott who was in the dark, either.
Jerry Jones sprung the Trey Lance trade on the Cowboys 😳
(via @dallascowboys / YT) pic.twitter.com/2HrXYNmeIM— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) August 27, 2023
"I mean obviously understand it's a business," Prescott said, via ESPN. "That's a first-round talent and you're always trying to make your team better. But that was the front office, so we're going to welcome him as we do any teammate and hopefully he just makes us better. We're going to continue to get back at it and know that we've got one goal as a team."
Lance’s arrival almost certainly means that Will Grier, who has been with the team for the past two seasons, will be cut.
Grier was reportedly told before the Cowboys’ final preseason game on Saturday night that he wouldn’t be making the team. He played the entire game in Dallas’ 31-16 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, and went 29-of-35 for 305 yards and threw two touchdowns with Prescott calling plays.
“Honestly right now, my heart and my mind is with Will,” Prescott said after the game, via ESPN. “So it's a tough situation, honestly. Love that guy to death over there. Plays his ass off, comes in, prepares the right way each and every day."
