By NFL rules, rookie contracts can’t be renegotiated and deals can’t be extended until after a player has been in the league for at least three years. For Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, that means this is the year he can start talking about long-term security with the team that picked him No. 1 overall in the 2021 NFL draft.
The timing isn’t quite as ideal as it once seemed it would be, though.
After a making a massive sophomore leap in 2022, a string of injuries for Lawrence late in the 2023 season coincided with the Jaguars losing five of their last six games to miss the playoffs. The third-year quarterback finished the year with 21 touchdowns, 14 interceptions, four rushing touchdowns, and 12 fumbles.
Still, it’s hard to imagine the Jaguars want to see Lawrence hit the free agency market in the not-so-distant future. And if the team hopes to keep the 24-year-old quarterback for the long-term, it’s only going to get more expensive to lock him down if the Jaguars wait until later.
For Lawrence, though, nothing is more important than continuing to prove that he’s the franchise quarterback the Jaguars should be building around.
“It’s something I’m not concerned with,” Lawrence said of extension talks in a Tuesday appearance on NFL Network. “Obviously, I would love to get a deal done at some point, whether that’s this year, next year, who knows? I’m not really worried about that. But obviously, you want to have some security and you want to make money, you want to play and do as well as you can.
“But at the same time, I know I have a job to do, regardless. Whether I get the extension this year, next year, whatever it is. I have the same job to do, regardless. I have to prepare myself to be the best player I can be next season and take us as far as we can go. So I know that’s my job and that’s not going to change.”
During the 2023 offseason, quarterback Jalen Hurts signed a five-year deal averaging $51 million per year that made him the highest paid player in the NFL. Then Lamar Jackson received a deal that topped it, then Justin Herbert, and then Joe Burrow. The last deal for Burrow, which averages $55 million per season, currently stands as the richest.
Presumably, Lawrence will want a contract that makes the Jaguars quarterback the new contract king for as long as it takes for another passer to take the crown.
If the Jaguars are convinced Lawrence is their guy, there’s no time like the present to get a deal done.
