The Jacksonville Jaguars are paying to keep Trevor Lawrence around.
The team announced Friday that it had reached a five-year deal with the franchise quarterback. According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL NetworkThe deal includes $200 million guaranteed and $142 million fully guaranteed. He will now make approximately $55 million per season.
“I am beyond grateful to continue my career in Jacksonville,” Lawrence said in a statement. “My family and I love this city – it has become our home base and this reinforces that even more. We cannot thank Mr. Khan and everyone involved for believing in me. I know the best is yet to come and This is just the beginning. The urge to bring Duval a championship is greater than ever.”
The average annual value of $55 million ties Cincinnati Bengals star Joe Burrow for the highest among NFL quarterbacks and therefore matches the highest mark in NFL history. The only other members of the $50 million-a-year club: Jared Goff, Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts.
Lawrence’s deal is surpassed only by Burrow and Deshaun Watson in total guaranteed and fully guaranteed money.
Contract negotiations for Lawrence loomed large during the Jaguars offseason, as the former No. 1 draft pick became eligible for an extension after three seasons of up-and-down quarterback play. He has shown flashes of the generational quarterback prospect that was promised when he came out of Clemson; at other times he looked mediocre.
Lawrence posted his second career 4,000 passing yards season last year, but struggled with interceptions and picked up a career-high 35 sacks. The Jaguars went 9-8 and missed the playoffs.
The Jaguars have hardly been a beacon of stability since Lawrence’s inception, thanks largely to the disastrous tenure of head coach Urban Meyer, but they ultimately had no choice but to pay him. And Lawrence’s contract numbers are going rates for quarterbacks these days.
Jacksonville will now look to build a contender with Lawrence taking up a significant portion of their salary cap. So far, their offseason pickups include weapons for Lawrence in wide receivers Gabe Davis and Devin Duvernay, plus protection in the form of center Mitch Morse and guard Ezra Cleveland. However, they lost leading receiver Calvin Ridley to their AFC South rival Tennessee Titans in free agency in 2023.
Trevor Lawrence is the only 2021 NFL Draft QB getting paid big time
Lawrence was the crown jewel of a high-profile quarterback class in the 2021 NFL Draft. Everything that has happened since has likely left the Jaguars relieved that they were bad enough in 2020 to get the top pick.
The pick after Lawrence: Zach Wilson, who never took a step forward for the New York Jets and was eventually traded to the Denver Broncos. The next pick: Trey Lance, who barely saw the field for the San Francisco 49ers and is now part of the Dallas Cowboys.
The other two quarterbacks taken in the first round that year were No. 11 pick Justin Fields for the Chicago Bears and No. 15 pick Mac Jones for the New England Patriots. Fields is trending to be Russell Wilson’s backup with the Pittsburgh Steelers, while Jones has landed at Jacksonville, where he will back up Lawrence.
It’s only been three years since that draft, but Lawrence is already guaranteed to be the only member of his class to get a second contract from his original team. Paying Lawrence may not work for the Jaguars, but it’s probably better than the alternative.
