On Thursday, the Jacksonville Jaguars and quarterback Trevor Lawrence agreed to a five-year contract extension worth $275M.
With the extension, Lawrence’s average annual salary of $55M is now tied for the highest in the NFL with Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.
Since the Jaguars decided to give their young signal-caller a massive contract extension, some have wondered why the team was so willing to pay Lawrence, who has never thrown for more than 25 touchdowns in any of his three years in the NFL. But there are a few reasons why Jacksonville likely felt the need to extend his contract before he returned to the field for his fourth season in the league.
First, when Lawrence is healthy, the Jaguars have proven that they can succeed with him starting under center.
Before he suffered a high ankle sprain in a Week 13 loss to the Bengals last season, Jacksonville had won 15 of their previous 18 regular-season games with Lawrence as their starter. At full strength, it’s not crazy to think that the Jaguars can compete with almost any team in the NFL.
Lawrence hasn’t even celebrated his 25th birthday yet. Some of the top young quarterbacks around the league, including Justin Herbert, Jalen Hurts, Jordan Love and Tua Tagovailoa, are all older than Lawrence. So, he still has time to reach the elite potential many believed he had when he entered the NFL in 2021.
Lawrence’s impact on the field goes beyond his passing numbers as well. He’s also an underrated rusher, as Hurts, Josh Allen, Justin Fields and Taysom Hill are the only other quarterbacks in the league with more rushing touchdowns than Lawrence (nine) in the last two seasons.
Lastly, contract values have skyrocketed, especially for quarterbacks, thanks to the NFL’s salary cap increasing by more than 22 percent since the 2022 offseason. The amount of money Jacksonville gave to Lawrence on Thursday is just what it costs now to sign a starting quarterback at his age who has room to develop.
If Lawrence can reach an elite performance level on the field within a year or two, or even by the start of the 2024 season, his new extension could look like a bargain.
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