49ers' John Lynch addresses if he will trade Trey Lance

San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch isn't yet ready to trade Trey Lance, but that doesn't mean Lynch wouldn't listen to offers for the quarterback. 

Per Nick Wagoner of ESPN, Lynch spoke with reporters on Monday about possibly shopping Lance assuming that 2022 rookie Brock Purdy makes a full recovery from surgery he had to repair the torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. Lynch confirmed that Purdy is "probably the leader in the clubhouse" over Lance and free-agency signing Sam Darnold to be San Francisco's Week 1 starter this coming September. 

"We like Trey on our team right now," Lynch remarked. "(Head coach Kyle Shanahan) and I always joke we'd trade each other if someone would give us a good enough deal. So we listen to anything but we like Trey on our team. We're very excited about the way he's progressing, about his opportunity. I think he's chomping at the bit to get back out there, get back under center and be healthy again."

The 49ers sent the Miami Dolphins the No. 12 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, a first- and third-round pick in 2022 and a first-round choice in 2023 to move up to the third pick in the 2021 draft and ultimately grab Lance. Lance spent the majority of his rookie campaign serving as a backup behind Jimmy Garoppolo. The 22-year-old went down with a season-ending ankle injury in Week 2 this past September after taking over the starting job.

Thus far, Lance is just 2-2 across four career starts. He's completed 56-of-102 career regular-season passes for 797 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions. 

The 49ers spent the final pick of last year's draft on Purdy, and the then-rookie was called into action when both Lance and Garoppolo were out with injuries in Week 13. As a starter, Purdy guided San Francisco to five regular-season wins and two playoff victories before he was hurt playing against the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC title game. 

"We've always said we don't care where you were drafted, if you were drafted, that's always been our stance," Lynch added during his comments. "It's what we believe in. I think both things can be true. We're still very excited about Trey but I think the way Brock played, he probably has earned that right to be the guy. But it's certainly a competition, we'll always have that. Again, these are decisions Kyle makes but I know in our discussions, this is the way we're talking."

The 49ers needed more than three healthy quarterbacks this past season, so it makes sense Lynch would want to hold onto Lance throughout the upcoming campaign unless the executive is blown away by an offer from a different team. It does, however, sound like Lynch isn't married to keeping Lance if a quarterback-needy club believes the 2021 first-round draft pick can be a franchise player at the position.