How did the Cowboys’ Cooper Rush lose $250,000 when Trey Lance made his first start for Dallas in Week 18?

Arlington, Texas – Despite starting longtime backup Cooper Rush in every game since quarterback Dak Prescott’s season-ending injury (hamstring tear in Week 9 at the Falcons), the Dallas Cowboys are making a change.

According to NFL Network, Trey Lance, the third overall selection of the 2021 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers, will be the Cowboys’ starting quarterback for the team’s Week 18 season finale against the Washington Commanders on Sunday.

Lance playing means the Rush will not impact his full playing-time incentive for the 2024 season. CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones reported Thursday that if Rush plays 55% of the team’s snaps in 2024, he will receive $500,000 in incentives. Entering Week 18, he has played 52.5% of the Cowboys’ offensive snaps. If he had played at least 65 snaps, it probably would have been enough to earn him $500,000. But that won’t happen with Lance starting and playing the entire first half.

Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy was involved in starting Rush as the team was in contention for a playoff berth. The Cowboys went 4–4 in Rush’s eight starts since Week 10, and he completed 61.3% of his passes for an average of 209.6 passing yards per game. Rush’s 11-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio since Week 10 is tied for 17th in the NFL with MVP candidate Josh Allen, but his passer rating is only 86.6, second among the league’s 32 qualified quarterbacks over this span. It is ranked 25th.

Rush, 31, and Lance, 24, are both set to become free agents in March, and the Cowboys traded a 2023 fourth-round pick to acquire Lance before their 2023 preseason finale.

“he is [Lance] Doing the right things,” McCarthy said in pregame Sunday on 105.3 The Fan, via All City Dallas. “If I didn’t think he was ready for it or prepared for it in some way and it took us from this opportunity. Will deprive. If we win the game, we won’t make this decision.”

Lance has completed five of his seven passes for 22 yards this season and has one interception while rushing for 15 yards on five carries in mop-up duty. The last time Lance got a real chance to play was in Dallas’ preseason finale against the Los Angeles Chargers. He threw for 323 passing yards, one passing touchdown and five interceptions, completing 33 of his 49 passes. Lance rushed for 90 yards and a touchdown – a 46-yard read-option sprint – on 11 carries.

“Yeah, a lot,” Lance said Wednesday about how much he’s learned since the preseason concluded in August. “To be honest, whenever you turn the ball over so often, it’s easier to smile while talking about it now than it was four months ago or whatever. Yeah, I’ve learned a lot from it. Made mistakes. , Learned from them some good things, some bad things, that’s how it goes.”

The 24-year-old sees himself capable of becoming an NFL starting quarterback, and so does McCarthy, at least for Dallas’ final game of the 2024 season.

“Yeah absolutely, no doubt about it,” Lance said of his confidence in being an NFL starting QB. … “I think if you don’t think like that about yourself, you don’t have a chance, and I really believe that in my heart. I feel like this is where it comes from.” You get the confidence you have, I feel like I’ve worked to get to this point, and I’m not going to stop until that opportunity comes and I’m able to make the most of it. Am.”