Steve Young wasn’t a fan of the Trey Lance trade to Cowboys

When the San Francisco 49ers traded quarterback Trey Lance to the Dallas Cowboys there was going to be an awfully huge amount of opinions on the move. No doubt it solidifies the initial trade-up for lance in the 2021 NFL draft as one of the worst trades ever. As they say, sometimes you cut your losses no matter how bad. That still doesn’t excuse the 49ers. The fact Lance was traded to the Cowboys of all teams has had mixed opinions. Some are laughing at Jerry Jones and the anguish it offers incumbent quarterback Dak Prescott. Others are just annoyed the 49ers would do deals with the Cowboys. If you were a 49ers fan in the 80s and 90s, you hate the Cowboys. Just how things work.

And we can add former San Francisco 49ers Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young to the latter. He’s not a fan of the trade. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Young explained he wasn’t a fan of the trade:

“I have PTSD,” Young said in an interview with the Chronicle. “I feel like we should never trade anything to the Dallas Cowboys ever again after the Charles Haley disastrous mistake. You can easily say we traded away some Super Bowls when we did that. That’s an overstatement. But I felt that way.”

Now, let’s clarify some things. First, Steve Young is sold on starter Brock Purdy. Young raved about how the force was strong with Purdy last year and this year prior to the Trey Lance trade, he has been complimentary of the quarterback ever since. So it’s not really the football on why Trey Lance was traded. It’s what happened after that Charles Haley mess. The 49ers traded Haley to the Cowboys for a second rounder. Given how Haley’s career turned out, it’s safe to say the Cowboys won that trade simply because they had Charles Haley. Insult to injury was what the 49ers got: a second-round draft pick one year and a third-round pick a year later.

As Young said above, he’s more not a fan of it because of the aforementioned rivalry and how Haley got even better (that’s saying something).

I’m pretty sure 49ers fans have absolutely enjoyed ending the Cowboys’ season during Mike McCarthy era not once, but twice. In a row. During the playoffs. When the Cowboys were playing their top game. While the two play in two different divisions. This is less of a Cowboys getting a diamond in the rough or a steal in the draft and more of just Young not wanting the Cowboys to get anything or do business with the 49ers.

All that said, I’m sure if Trey Lance does eventually develop into an elite quarterback, on a different team, it’d be pretty good to know it was a team that signed him in free agency or the Cowboys had to give a pick away to to acquire.