Trey Lance has arrived in Dallas with a smile across his face.
Having fallen from being the San Francisco 49ers' hopeful future franchise quarterback to third on the depth chart, Lance was traded to the Dallas Cowboys last week.
He's found a new outlook and fresh grin.
"I really tried to not expect anything one way or another, but I can say that when I heard 'Cowboys,' I had a big smile on my face," Lance said on Tuesday, via ESPN’s Todd Archer. "I was very excited to be here."
Lance finding his smile would seem to be a promising update after playing in just eight games over a pair of snakebitten seasons in San Francisco. Lance also told reporters on Tuesday that he's 100% healthy physically.
The 23-year-old has dealt with injuries aplenty, from a broken finger to a knee sprain to a broken ankle suffered in Week 2 of last season that, essentially, concluded his playing days in San Francisco.
Now, Jerry Jones and the Cowboys are taking a low-risk chance on Lance, shipping a fourth-round pick to the 49ers in the hopes of growing a young QB behind Dak Prescott.
"He welcomed me with open arms," Lance said of Prescott, via the team website. "It meant a lot to me. This business is crazy but, for me, I'm not looking forward -- at all. I'm just trying to take it one day at a time. This guy has played at a very high level for a long time so, obviously, just tons of respect for him, as I think he deserves and gets from across the league."
As Lance sets up in Dallas and under the Prescott learning tree, he's looking to help out the Cowboys in any way he can while leaving an unfortunate first two years behind him.
"It's not how I expected it to go. It's not how I think a lot of people expected it to go," Lance said. "But I believe that everything happens for a reason. I think I'm here for a reason. Regardless of what it is, just want to try to find a way to help the team."
The 49ers now infamously traded a haul of three first-round picks to move up to No. 3 overall and take Lance in the 2021 NFL Draft. It didn't work out for the franchise or the young QB.
The latter's hoping a do-over in Dallas could remedy his career.
"It was a little bit surreal for me hearing I was going to come here knowing everything about this historic organization," Lance said, via ESPN. "Just compared to the 49ers, obviously you think of that as another one of the top-tier, historic organizations, but for me, just very excited to be here. Coach (Mike) McCarthy and the entire coaching staff, man, nothing but knowledge being in all these meetings. It's been awesome for me. It's been fun. Kind of a breath of fresh air to learn a new offense and being around the guys the last two days."
