Can Trey Lance beat out Cooper Rush as backup to Dak Prescott?

Relegated to No. 3 in San Francisco, Trey Lance wanted to go from a place where he had a better chance of being No. 2.

He chose the Cowboys, assuming he had any actual say in the final destination.

So can Lance supplant Cooper Rush? Rush, who became an unrestricted free agent in March, re-signed in Dallas on a two-year, $5 million deal. The Cowboys will pay Lance $6.25 million over the next two years (and gave up a fourth-round pick to get him), which potentially implies the relative perception of the players.

But Rush has far more experience than Lance. Rush has 19 regular-season appearances, 11 more than Lance. Rush has six starts, two more than Lance. Rush is 5-1 as a starter. Lance is 2-2.

Rush has thrown 212 regular-season passes. Lance has thrown 102. Their passer ratings are almost identical; 84.9 for Rush to 84.5 for Lance. But from a raw experience standpoint, it's no contest. Rush has the experience that Lance has yet to gain.

Either of them will get more experience this season only if starter Dak Prescott gets injured. That's what happened in Week 1 a year ago, when a hand injury opened the door for five straight starts from Rush.

If Dak gets injured this year, who will it be? Rush or Lance?

For the Cowboys, this seems to be less about having a better backup now and more about having a potential alternative in the future, if/when Dak tries to leverage a sky-high cap number in 2024 into another contract that puts him among the highest-paid quarterbacks in the league — even if his on-field status among them has been slipping of late.