SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 02: Trey Lance #5 of the San Francisco 49ers looks on in the fourth quarter against the Houston Texans at Levi’s Stadium on January 02, 2022 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
Trey Lance is watching Brock Purdy lead the San Francisco 49ers to a title push. The messy situation led the NFL world to play detective over emojis.
The Tennessee Titans hired 49ers director of player personnel Ran Carthon as their new general manager. When news of the move broke Tuesday, Lance posted a photo of Carthon on an Instagram story with three emojis of crossed fingers.
The cryptic post led to rampant speculation over Lance’s intent.
One popular interpretation is that the 22-year-old hopes to follow Carthon to Tennessee.
The 49ers flourished behind Jimmy Garoppolo when Lance suffered a season-ending ankle injury early in Week 2. Since Garoppolo’s gone down, they have won seven straight games with Purdy under center.
The last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft continued his improbable ascent by registering 332 passing yards and four total touchdowns in a 41-23 first-round win over the Seattle Seahawks. Purdy is making a strong case to keep the starting job next season.
Tennessee, meanwhile, could move on from Ryan Tannehill after ranking 30th in passing offense this season.
However, Lance may have just been crossing his fingers for Carthon to officially land the job (which he did Wednesday) or excel in the new role. Not all emojis have layers of hidden meaning.
Either way, Purdy could further complicate Lance’s 49ers future by leading them to a win over the Dallas Cowboys this Sunday.
