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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Zach Goodall

Jaguars, Trevor Lawrence make deal official: ‘Best is yet to come’

The Jaguars made Trevor Lawrence’s contract extension official on Friday, announcing the five-year deal and issuing statements from the quarterback and Jacksonville general manager Trent Baalke.


Lawrence’s extension is reportedly worth $275 million, including $200 in total guarantees and $142 million fully guaranteed.

“I am beyond grateful to be able to continue my career in Jacksonville,” Lawrence wrote. “My family and I love this city — it has become home to us and this solidifies that even more.

“We can’t thank [Jaguars owner] Mr. [Shad] Khan, and everyone involved enough for their belief in me. I know that the best is yet to come and this is only the beginning. The drive to bring a championship to Duval is bigger than ever. Let’s get it done.”

Jacksonville made Lawrence its No. 1 overall selection in the 2021 NFL draft, following his illustrious college career with Clemson, where he won a National Championship and the game’s MVP award in 2019 and was named an All-American in 2020.

Over 50 regular season starts for the Jaguars, Lawrence has completed 63.8% of his 1,750 passes for 11,770 yards with 58 touchdowns and 39 interceptions and added 964 yards and 11 scores on the ground.

His Jaguars tenure began under one of the briefest coaching stints in NFL history, the sub-one-year Urban Meyer experiment in Jacksonville. Lawrence struggled amid the team-wide chaos, completing 59.6% of his passes for 3,641 yards with 12 touchdowns and 17 interceptions.

The Jaguars quickly corrected course, firing Meyer after Week 14 in 2021 and hiring former Philadelphia and Super Bowl LII-winning head coach Doug Pederson the following offseason.

Lawrence benefitted from the move immediately.

He completed 66.6% of his passes for 6,859 yards, 39 touchdowns and 15 interceptions with 514 yards and eight scores rushing between Pederson’s 2022 hiring and Week 12 of the 2023 season, a stretch in which the Jaguars went 17-11 and made a run to the 2022-23 AFC Divisional Round of the playoffs.

A string of injuries to the quarterback — a Week 13 high-ankle sprain, a Week 15 concussion and a Week 16 A/C joint sprain in his throwing shoulder — detailed Lawrence and Jacksonville’s momentum last year. Jacksonville went 1-5 to close the 2023 campaign, without Lawrence available for the win, over Carolina.

Still, finishing 9-8 in 2023, Jacksonville unlocked consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 2004-05 over the last two years.

The Jaguars are banking on more to come with Lawrence locked in long-term.

“With this five-year extension, the vision we had when we selected Trevor first overall in 2021 has become a reality,” Baalke said in his statement. “Our objectives have always been aligned. As an organization, we have consistently messaged the importance of extending our core players and Trevor is a foundational talent that we will continue to build around in our quest for a championship.

“With his talent, work ethic, leadership, and competitive drive we are confident the best is yet to come and are thrilled that he and Marissa [Lawrence] will continue to make Jacksonville their home.”

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