Quarterback Trey Lance reached agreement on a one-year deal worth up to $6.2 million with the Los Angeles Chargers, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Friday.
Lance and Taylor Heinicke are now the backups behind Chargers starter Justin Herbert.
Herbert has been one of the most durable quarterbacks in the NFL over his first five seasons. He started 62 consecutive games to begin his career, which was the second-longest active streak in the NFL, before a fractured right index finger in Week 14 of 2023 ended his season.
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Still, Herbert has played through injuries, and although he didn’t miss a game in 2024, he was often hobbled and missed snaps or quarters. The injury bug began in training camp when a plantar fascia diagnosis kept him out for two weeks. Herbert suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 2 that he aggravated the following week, and he navigated a thigh bruise and a separate ankle injury later in the year.
Lance gives the Chargers another competent backup option — along with Heinicke, who appeared in four games last season — if Herbert misses time. The signing also likely means that Easton Stick, the Chargers’ third-string quarterback last season, will likely not be back.
The No. 3 pick in the 2021 draft by the San Francisco 49ers, Lance remains something of a mystery even after four seasons in the league.
He started four games in two years with San Francisco, posting a 2-2 record while throwing for 797 yards, 5 touchdowns and 3 interceptions on 56-of-102 passing. An ankle injury cost him his starting job, leading to Brock Purdy’s run of success with the Niners.
In 2023, the Dallas Cowboys acquired Lance for a fourth-round pick in last year’s draft, but he did not play a snap in 2023 and saw only spot duty in 2024 until starting the regular-season finale against the Washington Commanders — completing 20 of 34 passes for 244 yards without a touchdown or interception, and running for 26 yards on six carries in a 23-19 last-second loss.
He also played the majority of the snaps in last year’s preseason for the Cowboys, completing 73 of 113 passes for 662 yards and two touchdowns, but he threw five interceptions in the preseason finale against the Chargers.
Lance, 24, is younger than 2024 first-round picks Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr. Former coach Mike McCarthy said Lance just needed to continue to gain experience because he played only 19 games at North Dakota State before entering the NFL.
ESPN’s Kris Rhim and Todd Archer contributed to this report.
