Kyle Shanahan admits 49ers made a mistake surrendering draft picks to acquire Trey Lance

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Trey Lance's tenure with the San Francisco 49ers came to an abrupt end last week when he was traded to the Dallas Cowboys.

The Niners gave up significant assets to move up and select Lance at No. 3 overall in the 2021 draft. The team received a fair amount of criticism at the time, partially due to Lance's limited playing time in college.

Lance dealt with setbacks during his two-year stint in San Francisco, and the trade signaled that the gamble to draft the young quarterback failed. 

Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan offered a long-expected admission about the move to draft Lance.

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Head coach Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers talks with quarterbacks Trey Lance (5) and Brock Purdy (13) during training camp at SAP Performance Facility Aug. 4, 2023, in Santa Clara, Calif. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

Shanahan recently appeared on KNBR 680 radio and characterized the draft choice as a "mistake." But, he also said the 49ers made the move based on the state of the veteran free agent quarterback market.

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"When you move up, and it doesn’t work out, that’s definitely a mistake," Shanahan said. 

"But we did like our decisions when we looked into the two veterans that were available, and we didn’t get that. And we knew what way we were going to have to go two years from then. We knew we needed to go up and get a quarterback at that time."

Trey Lance of the San Francisco 49ers looks to pass during the second half of a preseason game against the Denver Broncos at Levi's Stadium