Eight quarterbacks were selected in the first three rounds of the 2021 NFL draft, a record that has held up over the two selection ceremonies since.
Following Zach Wilson’s reported trade from New York, who took the former Brigham Young passer with the No. 2 pick that year, to Denver on Monday, just three of those signal-callers remain with their original squads.
Of those three, only one actively starts for their team and is on a path toward a long-term contract extension: Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence.
Additionally, Kyle Trask, the No. 64 overall pick in the second round, is still with Tampa Bay, and Davis Mills, the No. 67 selection in the third round, remains on Houston’s roster.
Mills started 26 games over his first two seasons but was replaced by eventual AFC Offensive Rookie of the Year, C.J. Stroud, in 2023. Trask has appeared in just three career contests and backs Baker Mayfield up on the Buccaneers’ depth chart.
Wilson’s exit from the Big Apple marks the fourth instance of teams abandoning their 2021 quarterback of choice in the last eight months.
Since August, San Francisco has traded Trey Lance (No. 3 overall) to Dallas, Chicago has traded Justin Fields (No. 11) to Pittsburgh, and New England has traded Mac Jones (No. 15) to Jacksonville, each in exchange for Day 3 picks. The Jets and Broncos swapped late-round picks in Wilson’s trade.
Mond (No. 66) was waived by Minnesota in 2022.
Meanwhile, Lawrence enters his fourth season with Jacksonville in 2024, having started every game in which he’s been available along the way, making him the lone first-round quarterback from 2021 who continues to play for his drafted team.
Although the most recent campaign had a disappointing finish with the Jaguars falling out of playoff contention in Week 18, the club completed its first set of consecutive winning seasons since 2004-05 with Lawrence under center in 2023. It went 9-8 in back-to-back years.
Accordingly, Jacksonville’s front office — a contingent including general manager Trent Baalke, head coach Doug Pederson and owner Shad Khan — has engaged in discussions about a contract extension with Lawrence and his representatives this offseason.
“I’d love to obviously be a Jag, for as long as possible,” Lawrence said on April 16. “We love it here and I love where we’re headed as an organization and feel like I’m just getting better every year. My best ball is definitely ahead of me.”
In 50 regular season games with the Jaguars, Lawrence has completed 63.8% of his passing attempts for 11,770 yards with 58 touchdowns and 39 interceptions. He’s added 964 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground.
For fun but meaningless comparison, the seven other passers drafted through the third round in 2021 have combined for 28,665 passing yards, 149 passing touchdowns and 119 interceptions in 162 appearances.
