Former First Round Pick’s Bay Area Reunion
The Los Angeles Chargers wrapped up their 2025 preseason with a 30-23 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, and if you only looked at the box score, you’d probably think this was another meaningless August tune-up game. Technically, you’d be right — unless you zoom in on Trey Lance. Yeah, that Trey Lance. The guy the Niners traded three first-round picks for in 2021, handed the keys to the franchise, then almost immediately yanked them back when Brock Purdy — Mr. Irrelevant — turned into a Disney+ Original Movie. Lance’s career has been one of those “wrong place, wrong time” sagas that feels like it needs a 30 for 30 episode: What if your team traded everything for you, and then forgot you existed?
Saturday night, Lance found himself back at Levi’s Stadium, this time wearing powder blue and going head-to-head with the franchise that gave up on him before his rookie contract expired. He wasn’t spectacular, but here’s the thing: Trey Lance is still standing. In NFL quarterback land, survival is half the battle. For Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh, this was a full-circle moment too. It was his first game back at Levi’s since the Niners pushed him out after four straight winning seasons, because apparently, building a Super Bowl roster and reviving a once-historic franchise wasn’t enough. Harbaugh called his time in San Francisco “tremendous,” and if you know Harbaugh, you could practically hear the smirk behind that comment.
This Chargers team, by the way, is sneaky and fascinating. Justin Herbert is firmly the guy, but Trey Lance is quietly trying to lock down the backup QB position over Taylor Heinicke — a storyline that would have sounded like a Mad Lib in 2022. The preseason body of work says Lance might just get it. Harbaugh even went full baseball metaphor on him, calling 25-year-olds “the fat part of the bat” for quarterbacks. The rest of the game? Pretty ugly. Eight punts in the first quarter, muffed punts leading to Niners touchdowns, and a reminder that preseason football is more about roster math than scoreboard drama. By Tuesday, this Chargers roster will be cut to 53 players, and Lance will officially know his spot in the pecking order.
If you’re a football romantic — and I’m absolutely guilty — this was more than a throwaway August loss. This was Trey Lance stepping back onto the field where he was supposed to be the future, looking across the sideline at Brock Purdy and the franchise that ghosted him, and proving he’s still here. Still working. Still fighting. He’s no longer “the guy the 49ers traded up for.” He’s no longer a Cowboy clipboard holder. He’s Trey Lance, Chargers backup QB, a 25-year-old with a live arm and a coach who actually believes in him. Sometimes, it’s about getting that second act, that second chance, and proving the story isn’t finished yet.
