What exactly was the Dallas Cowboys’ plan when they traded Trey Lance? It’s been 14 months since Lance arrived in Dallas, and with each passing month it’s looking more likely that the Cowboys will torch their 2024 fourth-round pick.

What little value Lance had was lost when Dak Prescott signed a four-year, $240 million extension before the season.

The Cowboys made the apparent decision to decline Lance’s fifth-year offer. However, he is still making $5.31 million this season as part of the fully guaranteed $34.1 million contract he signed with the 49ers with the third overall pick in the 2021 draft.

The trade aged like milk left in the sun and somehow managed to get worse during the Cowboys’ bye week.

The 49ers’ fourth-round pick, cornerback Malik Mustafa, has become a key part of San Francisco’s defense, and he played a crucial game against the Chiefs on Sunday, although he lost.

While the 49ers lost, Mustafa led the way with 12 tackles. He was the victim of Patrick Mahomes’ lethal hit, but Mustafa put himself on the national map with his performance against the two-time defending champions.

Starting with an injured Tanaloa Hufanga, the Wake Forest product took the form of a heat-seeking missile on Sunday. He set the tone for a physical defensive game with a highlight-reel tackle in the first quarter when he came down from the third level to stop the game.

Mustafa was not in the frame until the last second. There are few things more beautiful in football than a defender firing a cannon and sniffing out the play. Cowboys fans haven’t seen much of this from starting cornerbacks Donovan Wilson and Malik Hooker this season.

Mustafa had another textbook stop in the second quarter when he lost to speedy Chiefs receiver Xavier Worthy. For the 22-year-old, it was a coming out party.

Meanwhile, in Dallas, Lance was unable to beat out Cooper Rush as the backup. He’s an emergency third-line defender, so he’s essentially a money stealer. In case you weren’t aware, Lance’s $5.31 million salary ranks eighth on the team. It’s more than just Jourdan Lewis, Tyler Smith and Eric Kendricks, to name a few players.

This is entirely the fault of the front office, who believe they outsmarted the league by trading for Lance. Whether they intended to trade Lance for another pick or thought it would give them leverage over Prescott during contract negotiations, it was a complete disaster.

Mustafa, who blossomed in the first year of his life, is simply rubbing salt in the wound.

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