Shocking QB news swings door wide open for Cowboys to trade Trey Lance

Stop us if you've seen this before but the Dallas Cowboys were quiet as mice on the first day of NFL free agency. Despite that, the Cowboys were a big talking point as free agents Tony Pollard, Dorance Armstrong and Tyler Biadasz all inked big-money deals not long into the legal tampering period.

With the Cowboys sitting out the first wave of free agency, it's been interesting to monitor other happenings around the league and how they might impact Dallas' future. For instance, the running back market has moved faster than expected and time is running out to find a Pollard replacement.

Another major free agency domino could impact the Cowboys' quarterback room in 2024. After months of speculation, free agent Kirk Cousins left the Vikings to sign a four-year, $180 million contract with the Falcons. This means Minnesota is open for business at quarterback.

Could they give Dallas another ring about Trey Lance?

Kirk Cousins gives Cowboys perfect opportunity to trade Trey Lance

According to The Athletic's Dianna Russini, the Vikings are now expected to go after Sam Darnold, who was teammates on the Jets with Minnesota's new quarterbacks coach Josh McCown. The Vikings may very well sign Darnold, but they likely wouldn't be done adding to the QB room.

Darnold is 21-35 overall as a starter in his career. He owns a lowly 59.7 completion percentage and has 63 touchdowns to 56 interceptions. Darnold ironically beat out Lance for the backup job in San Francisco behind Brock Purdy, but there's a reason Darnold is on the verge of joining his fourth team in seven seasons.

A Darnold-Lance competition wouldn't move the needle for Vikings fans, but that shouldn't concern the Cowboys. All they should care about is taking advantage of a desperate team and Minnesota reeks of desperation in light of Cousins' departure.

Without a starting quarterback, it stands to reason that the Vikings would overpay for Lance, whom they nearly inquired about in October after Cousins' season-ending Achilles injury. Whether that comes in the form of a third- or fourth-round pick, Dallas can't afford to squander this opportunity.

With just $2.2 million in cap space, the Cowboys don't have a role to play in free agency. The least they could do is cash in on the lottery ticket they acquired in August. With a Dak Prescott extension seemingly in the works, Lance doesn't have a future in Dallas.

They'd be hard-pressed to find a better Lance trade partner than Minnesota.

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