The NFL journey for Dallas Cowboys quarterback Trey Lance has gone from bad, to worse, to flat-out miserable. And it doesn't get much worse than this.
The Cowboys traded for Trey Lance last year knowing that he would be a bit of a reclamation project, to say the least. It has gotten to the point that Cowboys quarterbacks coach Scott Tolzien recently said that Dak Prescott is still showing Lance "the ropes".
"Beyond that, teach him the ropes – things that he's used in the past for him, both fundamentally and approach-wise."
- QB coach Scott Tolzien
Now, we have Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy heaping praise upon a tryout quarterback that nobody's even heard of. Who is Mike Hohensee?
Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy made a point in opening statement of news conference to highlight QB Mike Hohensee. “I do not recall a young quarterback coming in here on a tryout [basis] and commanding the huddle” as Hohensee has. https://t.co/Y5h7EjnSKr pic.twitter.com/rMxgaCU7vz
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) May 10, 2024
Trey Lance's seat is scalding hot after Mike McCarthy's recent comments
That's Northwest Missouri State quarterback Mike Hohensee, the 6-foot-2, 196-pound prospect who has caught the eye of the Cowboys' head coach. At this point, we can only hope that McCarthy is heaping the same level of praise upon Trey Lance when the Cowboys report for the remainder of their offseason work and training camp.
At this point, even positive comments about tryout players like Hohensee feel like bad news for Lance. The Cowboys are already compromising a 53-man roster spot by keeping Trey Lance around. The third-overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft is taking up over $5.3 million on this year's salary cap and the Cowboys are obviously holding out hope that some of the potential he showed while he was at North Dakota State can manifest in the NFL.
They can't cut him without penalty at this point -- they would be on the hook for the fullness of that $5.3 million if Lance is cut -- but there's a chance they could try and facilitate a trade while paying some of Lance's salary, similar to what we saw the New York Jets do with Zach Wilson in their trade with the Denver Broncos ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft.
It just doesn't feel like Lance is in the favor of this Dallas coaching staff. The team isn't willing to make him the full-time backup to Dak Prescott with Cooper Rush sticking around. If the Cowboys feel like they can find a draft pick and someone to take on half of Lance's salary, maybe they would feel more comfortable paying Mike Hohensee a practice squad salary as a developmental option at a fraction of the cost of Trey Lance.
The process for acquiring Lance was a good one. It's worth throwing darts at young, talented quarterbacks. But if the Cowboys are hamsters spinning in the proverbial wheel with this guy, they might need to move on before they flush another $5.3 million down the drain.
