JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Trevor Lawrence is the franchise quarterback the Jaguars have been looking for, and he’s going to get paid like one.
Even after an uneven start to his tenure, the Jaguars have made no secret that Lawrence is their guy. He’s eligible for a contract extension this year and the Jaguars are doing their legwork to get something done with Lawrence.
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Chances are that new deal happens sooner rather than later.
Lawrence said on Tuesday that he wants to remain in Jacksonville and would love to get a deal done. On Thursday, general manager Trent Baalke said that the franchise is slowly putting the pieces in place for that to happen.
“Again, I try not to force anything. We’ve had some great talks and great conversations. I spoke with his agency again last night. We’re working, but you can’t force this stuff. I said the same thing with Josh’s [OLB Josh Allen] situation, I said it would take some time and it did,” Baalke said Thursday.
“But we’re glad it got completed when it did so we could go into this offseason program knowing that’s behind us and we can move forward. We’re working at it, we’ll continue to work at it. Ownership is involved, obviously. Coach is involved; we’re going to put our best foot forward and hope to get something accomplished here.”
Jacksonville has until May 2 to exercise Lawrence’s fifth-year option. All first-round picks have four-year rookie deals with an option for a fifth year. The Jaguars will no doubt pick that up by the deadline while they work with Lawrence’s camp on a longer deal.
What does a new deal look like? Lawrence’s contract will likely reshape the top end of the market as contracts for quarterbacks continue to explode. He’ll almost certainly land a deal in the $50 million per year average.
Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow reset the quarterback market last September when he got a five-year deal with $219 million in guarantees. It averages $55 million annually. Justin Herbert signed an extension two months before Burrow that averages $52.5 million a year with just under $194 million guaranteed.
Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson ($185 million guaranteed, $52 million average), Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts ($179 million guaranteed, $51 average) and Arizona’s Kyler Murray ($160 million guaranteed, $46.1 million average) round out the top five. With the NFL salary cap continuing to rise, Lawrence could push to reset the market, at least until Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes reworks his contract.
Lawrence is the only first-round quarterback from the hyped class of 2021 that has a shot to remain with the team that drafted him long term. Justin Fields, Mac Jones, Zach Wilson and Trey Lance have all flamed out. Only Wilson, who was taken No. 2 behind Lawrence, remains with his original team.