Re-signing Trey Lance is a baffling decision, exposing questionable front office strategy and a potentially costly mistake for the Chargers.
The Los Angeles Chargers announced over the weekend that they had re-signed free agent QB Trey Lance.
Is this a good decision? No. This is front office malpractice. This is a mistake that the team could end up regretting and one that they should know better than to make.
One year ago, the Chargers signed free agent Trey Lance to a one-year deal worth $2 million. There were many backup QBs in the NFL that were paid less than him, and the ones that made the same or more than Lance were usually proven commodities that could start games and help keep an offense afloat if the starting QB suffered a major injury.
What the Chargers got for that $2 million last season is.....up for debate, I suppose? And that's me being kind. I would love to say they got nothing for that money, because when starting QB Justin Herbert suffered a broken hand, the Chargers discovered that Trey Lance is not a good enough QB to start NFL games and keep an offense afloat.
If you're looking for one person to blame, or one specific reason for why Justin Herbert was out there on the field getting his broken hand crushed over and over again, Trey Lance would be that person. His signing a year ago was an unmitigated failure, which makes his re-signing to be the team's backup QB again in 2026 a travesty.
The team has not yet released the amount that they'll be paying Trey Lance on his second consecutive one-year deal, but any signing that requires the team to publish an explanation as to why they would make the deal should probably be considered a bad idea.
Even so, the team's explanation leaves a lot to be desired. Let's go through some of the main points:
The Chargers on Saturday announced they have agreed to terms with Lance, a move that ensures continuity and a quality option behind Justin Herbert in the position room.
The "quality option behind Justin Herbert" completed 47.4% of his passes in 2025, throwing 1 interception against zero touchdowns.
Lance, the former No. 3 overall pick, spent two seasons with the 49ers and another two with the Cowboys before joining the Chargers last offseason.
The fact that he was picked so highly (mostly the result of him playing D-II college football and skipping the 2020 season) and still managed to play for three different teams in his first five seasons is not something to brag about.
He proved to be a valuable addition as he stepped in multiple times for Herbert during the 2025 season, including earning a start in the regular-season finale.
Yes, he "earned" that start because the Chargers were actively trying to lose that game so that they wouldn't have to play against the Denver Broncos in the NFL Playoffs.
Here are Lance's stats for that game: 20/44, 136 pass yds, 1 INT, 4 sacks, 69 rush yds (9 rush attempts), 1 fumble lost
If you want a comparison, those numbers are pretty similar to what Tim Tebow was able to do in his short NFL career if you ignore all the touchdowns he threw (which is more than the number of games he started!).
Lance's most important moment came in Week 13 when Herbert suffered a fractured left hand against the Raiders and had to miss a chunk of the game.
Trey Lance was on the field for 10 plays in that game. He completed his only (9 yard) pass and ran four times (for 4 yards) against an awful Raiders team. That was his "most important moment"?
I suppose you simply can't pass up the opportunity to have that kind of production from your backup QB, but it still didn't make the team confident enough to give him any snaps over the next month while Herbert played with a cast on his broken hand that required surgery.
As the 2026 offseason rolls on, Herbert is obviously the unquestioned starter and the face of the Chargers franchise.
But it's never a bad idea to have solid quarterback depth, especially with a player like Lance who has dual-threat ability and is well-respected in the Chargers locker room.
This really gives away the game here. The team does not want any sort of legitimate backup QB that could even be a perceived threat to Herbert, so instead they are signing a good locker room guy that would require the team to completely change everything about its offensive identity if Herbert were ever injured enough to miss time....with limited performance potential to boot!
If Herbert has to miss any time due to injury in 2026, I fear the Chargers will regret this signing more than any other one they've made this offseason.