Dallas sent a 2024 fourth-round pick to San Francisco for…

Dallas acquired Trey Lance from San Francisco in August 2023 for a 2024 fourth-round pick. The Cowboys were betting on pedigree and development: Lance had been the No. 3 overall selection only two years earlier, was still 23 and possessed rare physical tools. San Francisco had already elevated Brock Purdy and named Sam Darnold the backup, leaving Lance without a clear role.

The gamble never produced meaningful regular-season value for Dallas. Lance spent 2023 as a developmental third quarterback and remained behind Dak Prescott and Cooper Rush. His most extended Cowboys action came late in the 2024 season, but he never established himself as Prescott’s long-term backup or successor. Dallas declined to build around him and he left after the season, ending the experiment without the organization receiving the upside it had hoped to unlock.

San Francisco used the fourth-round pick, No. 124, on Wake Forest safety Malik Mustapha. That is where the trade became significantly more damaging for Dallas. Mustapha started 12 games as a rookie in 2024 and recorded 72 tackles, five passes defensed and an interception. In 2025 he played 12 games with 10 starts, adding 76 tackles, three passes defensed and another interception. Through two seasons he has 22 starts and 148 tackles, giving the 49ers a legitimate young defensive starter from an asset they had once feared might produce nothing.

The original A/F grading remains justified. San Francisco did not recover anything close to the enormous package it originally spent to draft Lance in 2021, but that prior mistake is separate from this 2023 transaction. Judged only from the point of this trade, the 49ers converted a quarterback outside their plans into a starting safety.

Dallas paid a fourth-round pick for almost no regular-season return. San Francisco received two seasons of starting defensive production and counting. A for the 49ers and F for Dallas still fits.