Along with Joey Galloway and Roy Williams, Trey Lance is now in the chatroom of Dallas Cowboys owner/GM/President Jerry Jones’ worst acquisitions of all time.

One day before the San Francisco 49ers celebrated the one-year anniversary of trading their former first-round pick to the Cowboys in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick, Lance played the full game in a half-price football game against the LA Chargers on Saturday afternoon.

(If you must know, the Chargers won 26-19.)

When a quarterback plays the entire preseason game and the last one of them, it’s not a good sign. The Cowboys had to do this to Lance because it may be his last chance to play for the team.

Of the countless trades Jerry has made since purchasing the Cowboys in February 1989, the Lance deal always ranks higher on the list of JJ’s most memorable goal-line fumbles. This one might be the worst, considering Galloway and Williams actually played for the team in regular season games.

This deal continues to show all the signs of a trade where Jerry overpaid to sign a player whose career with the Cowboys will consist of preseason games and cashed checks in the regular season. Good for Trey. Terrible for the Cowboys offense.

The way this relationship plays out, the Cowboys will have paid Lance $6.24 million to stand on the sidelines, watch some videos, lift weights, stay in shape, attend team meetings, and play a few preseason games.

To recap this trade: A year ago, the 49ers found a fool in the Cowboys, sending a 2024 fourth-round pick to San Francisco for the former third overall pick. The coaches like Lance because he’s a likeable guy and… he did 0 for the team last season.

Jerry said Saturday he doesn’t regret the deal. It usually takes him about four to five years to admit mistakes.

The plan was always to see what Lance could do in the offseason, and especially this 2024 preseason. The Cowboys can say that Lance is an NFL-level athlete, and every now and then he shows the ability to make NFL-level throws.

He showed this against the Chargers. On the first drive, he made a nice throw along the sideline between two defenders. Towards the end of the first half, he threw a touchdown pass to receiver Ryan Flournoy.

Then there were a number of other plays, most notably an interception in the end zone in the third quarter and another interception in the fourth quarter that was a pick-six, that suggested Lance is only here because he is the third pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

“My confidence is not going to go away. That sucks. I won’t forget that anytime soon, but it’s part of it,” Lance said after the loss. “I feel good. I did a lot of good things out there today.”

He was sacked three times by the Chargers and threw five interceptions. He finished the season a mediocre 33 of 49 passes for 333 yards. In three preseason games, Lance completed 73 of 113 passes for 672 yards, two touchdowns and five interceptions, proving that Cooper Rush’s role as Dak’s backup is the safest job in the NFL.

“I saw good things and I saw some things that you’d like to have back,” Jerry said after the game. “I hated those five interceptions. I couldn’t have asked for more reps in better situations to watch him play. He needed that. We definitely plan on adding him to our roster.”

Jerry has said he is all in for 2024, but keeping Lance is not an all in move.

The Cowboys offense doesn’t need Lance as much as it needs his spot on the roster. The Cowboys will be one of the few teams to have three quarterbacks on the active roster.

They’re doing it because the boss said so. Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy certainly doesn’t believe it’s in the best interest of the offense this season for Lance, who is essentially in the final year of his rookie contract.

It was in the best interest of his offense to use the draft pick that went to San Francisco to sign Lance here as a running back in 2024.

The 49ers used that pick to select safety Malik Mustapha from Wake Forest. The next pick was running back Bucky Irving from Oregon from Tampa Bay.

Irving could turn out to be a loser, but the Cowboys’ running back room isn’t exactly teeming with Hall of Famers who were instant nominees.

Ignoring the running back position in the draft will have repercussions this season. Signing and keeping Ezekiel Elliott is the rare bad idea that is worse than it sounds.

This running back room is so thin and lacking players that scare you that the Cowboys should flip any player that hits the waivers list or maybe make a trade if teams go on strike this week. Keep an eye on the LA Rams and Miami Dolphins, both of whom have plenty of running backs.

The Cowboys weren’t afraid to make some changes to their defensive line, and they should do the same at their running back position.

At best, the Cowboys offense has one player who terrifies NFL defenses; he is currently on a contract lockout that likely ends this week. Their “most fearsome” weapon behind receiver CeeDee Lamb is tight end Jake Ferguson.

A running back is not on the list. Even in our devalued running back world, you need one who can do something. Instead, the Cowboys have an expensive third quarterback because the owner, who loves money more than air, thought he had made a deal.

In his limited time, Lance showed some oomph in the preseason, but his work here is done. He will be on the bench behind Dak Prescott and Cooper Rush in 2024.

“That’s the life of a backup quarterback in the NFL. That’s the life I’ve lived,” Lance said. “I try to soak up as much of it as I can.”

This time next year, Lance will be on a different team and the Cowboys will be looking back on a transfer that will go down as one of Jerry’s worst.