McFeely's Tip Sheet: Big year ahead in Big D for Trey Lance

If Dak Prescott is going to be the long-term starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, then what is Trey Lance's future in the Big D?

That's the $22 million question for the former North Dakota State star. Lance was taken with the No. 3 pick of the 2021 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers, who determined he was not going to be the future of that franchise, before Lance was traded to the Cowboys for a fourth-round pick prior to last season.

Lance spent 2023 as the third quarterback in Dallas behind Prescott and backup Cooper Rush. Now the Cowboys have a decision to make with Lance. Where exactly does he fit into the puzzle after the team gave up a valuable fourth-round pick to obtain him?

A few things:

It's obvious the Cowboys don't view Lance as their QB of the present or near future because they are working on signing the veteran Prescott to a lengthy and expensive contract extension.

That means, at best, Lance would be the No. 2 QB behind Prescott in 2024, but as of now Rush is still slotted as the backup and is under contract for '24. It's more likely Lance would remain the third QB for one more season.

But ... if Lance shows during OTAs and preseason that he's good enough to be No. 2, that could trigger the Cowboys to trade him or Rush for something better than a fourth-round pick and Dallas could show value for acquiring him.

Lance is still under his rookie contract that will pay him $5.3 million in 2024. Then things get interesting. The Cowboys have the fifth-year option on Lance for 2025. If they choose to exercise it, they will owe him $22.4 million according to the contract-tracking website Spotrac.

That seems unlikely.

Whew. This is complicated.

Nick Harris, who covers the Cowboys for NFL.com, tells the Tip Sheet that in discussions he's had with Dallas coaches and the front office, the team remains high on Lance and is excited to see what the quarterback can offer through the summer and fall so it knows exactly what his future is.

Harris said Lance worked very closely with quarterbacks coach Scott Tolzien through the entire 2023 season, including during road trips where Lance would arrive at the visiting stadium 3-4 hours before kickoff to work with Tolzien one-on-one.

Tolzien worked hard on improving Lance's arm angle when throwing, Harris said. Tolzien wants Lance to raise his arm angle, throwing from a higher slot rather than a lower one like Lance did at NDSU and San Francisco.

Now the team wants to get the full picture of Lance to determine what the future holds, Harris told the Tip Sheet.

In a post at the Sports Illustrated website, writer Mike Fisher said a source on the Cowboys indicated the team has a "Trey Lance Plan" that does not include paying the former Bison the $22.4 million in 2025. Fisher wrote that trading a fourth-round pick for Lance was a "dart throw" the team was hoping to make work one way or another.

Fisher opined that the realistic options for Lance and the Cowboys are that the young QB shows enough promise that Dallas "is able to trade him (or Cooper Rush) in exchange for value in excess of a fourth-round pick" as we indicated earlier.

"That would be 'winning the trade,'" Fisher wrote.

Or, the Cowboys "convince Lance to sign a new contract to serve as Dak’s backup/caddie/heir/whatever."

That plan would require Lance to believe his best NFL fit was to stay with the Cowboys and not bet on himself to compete for a starting job elsewhere.

The Cowboys will be worth keeping an eye on this summer and early fall to mark Lance's progress.

Something that likely won't happen, but if it does I'll look like a genius:

Quarterback Kirk Cousins bails on the Minnesota Vikings because another NFL team offers the 35-year-old free agent more guaranteed money.

There is much to be determined before the NCAA Division II men's basketball national tournament pairings are announced, but the regional rankings give us a clue.

The NCAA released its first regional rankings Wednesday for each of the eight regions. The top eight teams in each region Selection Sunday on March 10 will be invited to the 64-team national tournament.

Minnesota State University Moorhead (24-4) is third in the Central Region, behind No. 1 Minnesota State Mankato and No. 2 Northwest Missouri State.

The Dragons, who were briefly ranked No. 1 in the country earlier this season, will be the third seed in the upcoming Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament.

The Central Region is made up of the NSIC, the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association and the Great American Conference.

The MIAA and GAC still have one weekend of regular-season games and their league tournaments. The NSIC is finished with its regular season and awaits its appearance in conference tournament March 2-5 at the Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. Opening-round games were Wednesday.

Here are the first Central Region rankings released by the NCAA:

1. Minnesota State Mankato (23-2)

2. Northwest Missouri State (21-4)

3. Minnesota State University Moorhead (24-4)

4. Minnesota Duluth (23-5)

5. Fort Hays State (18-6)

6. Minot State (18-8)

7. Southwest Minnesota State (17-11)

8. Winona State (18-9)

9. Augustana (16-10)

10. Southeastern Oklahoma (19-7)

Each of the three conferences in the regional get one automatic bid given to the league tournament champion. The other six spots are at-large bids.

In this scenario, Mankato would host the regional. No matter who wins the GAC, in the Tip Sheet's opinion, that team will be the league's only regional representative and it will get the eighth seed. Minot State and Southwest Minnesota State would be the bubble teams if there is an upset in the NSIC or MIAA that scrambled the conference tournaments.

The Division II Elite Eight tournament, made up of the regional winners, will be March 26-30 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.

Former NDSU linebacker Julian Wlodarczyk signed with Ancona Dolphins in the Italian Football League's top level. ... Former Bison running back Adam Cofield, who ended his college career with FBS Western Kentucky, signed with the Porvoon Butchers in the Maple League, the top league in Finland. ... Moorhead High School graduate and former Bison men's basketball player Maleeck Harden-Hayes has scored in double figures in five straight games and six of the last seven for North Carolina-Wilmington. Harden-Hayes had 14 points Monday night in a 105-100 double-overtime loss to Campbell. ... Three FCS schools are among the institutions Mississippi would consider for closure if a proposed bill passes the state legislature. Alcorn State, Jackson State and Mississippi Valley State all historically Black universities are among eight colleges that could close if the bill passes. Delta State, a Division II school that's won national championships in football, is also on the list.