Trey Lance

Lance is an unrestricted free agent after the 2025 season with no guaranteed future with the Chargers or any team. His Week 18 performance (20/44, 136 yards, INT, pick-six) significantly damaged his market value heading into free agency.

Lance is the backup to Justin Herbert, with only two quarterbacks on the Chargers roster, heavily banking on Herbert's durability despite recent injury history; a serious injury to Herbert would force the team to rely entirely on Lance, a player who has limited NFL starting experience.

Lance completed 20 of 44 pass attempts for 136 yards and an interception while gaining 69 yards and losing a fumble on nine carries in Sunday's 19-3 loss to Denver, and completed less than half of his 44 pass attempts, with his only touchdown pass going to the other team via a pick-six.

Justin Herbert is entrenched as the Chargers' franchise quarterback with zero path for Lance to earn meaningful playing time barring injury. Lance's only 2025 start came in a meaningless Week 18 game where he severely underperformed.

At 25.7 years old with only 6 career starts across 5 NFL seasons and catastrophic injury history (ACL, ankle), Lance has failed to develop into a viable starting option. His 45.5% completion rate in Week 18 suggests he remains a raw, unfinished product.

If Herbert sustains injury, Lance becomes the immediate starter for a playoff-caliber Chargers roster with solid weapons (Ekeler, Allen, Guyton). This is a low-probability but high-impact scenario.

If Herbert sustains injury, Lance becomes the immediate starter for a playoff-caliber Chargers roster with established weapons (Hampton, McConkey, Gadsden, Johnston, Harris), though his Week 18 performance raises durability questions.

As a former third overall pick with elite athleticism (69 rushing yards on 9 carries in Week 18), Lance retains minimal lottery-ticket appeal if he lands in a QB-needy situation in 2026 free agency. Jim Harbaugh praised his preparation and poise in practice.

A QB-needy rebuilding team could acquire Lance cheaply and install him as a starter in an RPO or mobile-QB scheme, finally unlocking the upside that made him a top-3 overall pick in 2021.

The short-term deal keeps Lance's 2027 free agent status intact. A quarterback-needy team (Raiders, Titans, Panthers) could offer him a starting competition after the 2026 season, the only plausible long-term path to dynasty relevance.

Jim Harbaugh publicly compared Lance's potential to the Sam Darnold/Geno Smith mid-career resurgence arc, citing his age (26) as 'the fat part of the bat' for a QB — a real but speculative development signal.