Reaching a contract extension with quarterback Trevor Lawrence was critical for the Jaguars this offseason.
Jacksonville’s chief football strategy officer and part-owner Tony Khan, son of principal team owner Shad Khan, said as much on Monday’s episode of the Locked on NFL Draft podcast, commenting on Lawrence’s five-year, $275 million extension for the first time publicly since it was agreed upon last Thursday.
“It’s very important for us and it’s great news for the Jags fans and everybody in the Jaguars’ organization,” Khan said. “We got Trevor Lawrence locked into a great contract — to have a top quarterback, a top young quarterback, and somebody that is really a face of the Jaguars and we all love working with.
“I think Trevor’s tremendous and just an absolute pleasure to work with, day in and day out. Everybody really respects him. He’s a great leader, he’s a great person, a great leader on and off the field. We’re very blessed to have Trevor in Jacksonville now [and] for a long time to come, too.”
Jacksonville made Lawrence the highest-paid quarterback in NFL history, alongside Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow, after he led the Jaguars in 2022-23 to their first set of consecutive winning seasons since 2004-05. They went 9-8 each year and unlocked an AFC Divisional round appearance in the playoffs during the 2022 season, but missed out on postseason action in 2023.
In that stretch, Lawrence completed 65.9% of his passes for 8,129 yards with 46 touchdowns and 22 interceptions, adding nine rushing touchdowns.
Khan commended Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke for his approach to building Jacksonville’s roster around Lawrence in recent offseasons.
Specifically noting Baalke’s three first-round trade-downs in the last two NFL drafts, Khan stated the Jaguars landed the players they wanted in offensive tackle Anton Harrison in 2023 and wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. in 2024, all while “stacking” additional picks to improve the roster’s depth.
With the selections netted in trading down for Harrison and Thomas, the Jaguars took defensive end Tyler Lacy, safety Antonio Johnson and defensive tackle Raymond Vohasek in 2023, and running back Keilan Robinson in 2024.
Jacksonville holds 2025 third and fourth-round selections from Minnesota as part of its 2024 trade-down.
“It’s been a really effective strategy I think for Trent and the Jags to keep stacking up picks, bringing in young talent to build around — we have a franchise quarterback and we have a great coach in Doug Pederson, a Super Bowl-winning head coach,” said Khan, referencing Pederson’s 2017-18 championship run with Philadelphia.
“Those are the hardest things to get in football, in my opinion, are a franchise quarterback and one of the top coaches in the sport. We have those things in Jacksonville.”
To pair, the Jaguars signed eight free agents and extended star edge rusher Josh Allen for a combined $188 million in guaranteed money this offseason, before reaching an agreement with Lawrence.
