The quarterback agreed to a five-year, $275 million contract extension with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Can he lead them to their first Super Bowl?
Quarterback Trevor Lawrence got his huge payday with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The question now is whether he can live up to the massive deal and deliver the franchise’s first Super Bowl.
Lawrence agreed to a five-year, $275 million contract extension, which ties Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow for the highest-paid quarterback contract in the NFL in terms of annual salary. Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff is third at $53 million, followed by the Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert ($52.5 million) and the Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson ($52 million).
Lawrence’s contract is also the biggest in franchise history, with a higher price tag than the five-year, $141.25 million contract inside linebacker Josh Allen inked in April. It was also apparent that the Jaguars needed to make a deal as prices for franchise quarterbacks continued to soar.
“If you are the Jacksonville Jaguars and you wait, then you are going to potentially pay even more,” NFL expert Ryan Wilson of CBS Sports said on June 13. “Yes, this is a lot of money—it looks like he is going to be making upwards of $55 million a year—but that quarterback number is only going up for a guy that they see is their franchise [quarterback] of this team. When you look at Trevor Lawrence, inconsistency has been the key when it comes to him.”
The Jaguars already invested a lot in Lawrence after selecting him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Lawrence had a solid start in his NFL debut, completing 28 of 51 pass attempts for 332 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions in a 37–21 loss to the Houston Texans. The 332-yard passes were the fourth-most by a rookie quarterback in his first start in NFL history.
Lawrence, however, struggled over the rest of his rookie year under coach Urban Meyer, who was fired after only 13 games. Lawrence threw for 3,641 yards with 12 touchdowns and 17 interceptions after starting all 17 games.
The following season, in 2022, the quarterback had his best year as a pro thus far. He threw 4,113 with 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions for a 95.2 passer rating. He also led Jacksonville to the AFC South title with a 9–8 record.
Lawrence then put together an epic performance in the postseason, when he countered four interceptions with four touchdown passes in a 31–30 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers in the wild-card round. The Jaguars rallied from a 27-point deficit, making it the largest comeback in franchise history and the third-largest in playoff history.
“You couldn’t write a crazier script,” Lawrence said after the game at a press conference. “We said in the locker room that’s kind of how our season’s going. We’re never out of the fight. I’m kind of speechless, honestly, just to see what belief can do and to see when a team believes in each other what you can accomplish.”
Jacksonville lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion, Kansas City Chiefs, 27–20 in the division round.
Last season, Lawrence dealt with various injuries—a right high ankle sprain, a concussion, and a shoulder sprain—but still managed to start 16 games. Jacksonville got off to a fast start at 8–3, but the Jaguars faltered down the stretch, losing five of their final six games and missing the playoffs.
Lawrence threw for 4,016 yards with 21 touchdowns, but his 14 interceptions and seven lost fumbles amounted to 21 turnovers—the third-most in the NFL.
The Jaguars were eliminated from the playoffs after losing 28–20 to the Tennessee Titans in the final game of the season.
“It’s tough,” Lawrence said after the game at a press conference. “It’s kind of hard to put into words right now. The whole season comes down to one game, and then you look back, and it’s like a few plays. Your whole season comes down to a few plays, and you just weren’t able to make them.
“It hurts to not be able to finish. You look at where we were at one point in the season, and we just finished really, really poorly and kind of gave it away.
“There are so many things you look at, and it’s disappointing and frustrating. We have a lot of really great players, and I think we have the potential to be a great team.”
Over his career, Lawrence has gone 20–30 as a starter, with a 63.8 completion rate, 58 touchdowns, and 39 interceptions.
However, Lawrence has shown he can lead a team to new heights after a stellar career at Clemson when, as a true freshman, he led the Tigers to the 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship with a victory over Alabama.
He was one of the most decorated quarterbacks in the Clemson Tigers’ history, going 34–2 (.944) as a starter—the third-best winning percentage by a starting quarterback with at least 30 career starts since Division I split in 1978, trailing only Miami’s Ken Dorsey (.950) and USC’s Matt Leinart (.949), according to ESPN Stats & Info.
Lawrence was also the winningest starting quarterback in Clemson’s history, surpassing the 32 career wins held by Rodney Williams, Tajh Boyd, and Deshaun Watson. He also rushed 231 times for 943 career rushing yards and 18 rushing touchdowns, the fifth-most career rushing touchdowns by a Clemson quarterback in the modern era.
Lawrence finished his career undefeated as a starter in regular season play and did not lose a regular season game at either the high school or collegiate levels.
Now, Lawrence is looking to find some of that same success in the NFL with the Jaguars as he begins another era with the new deal.
Todd Karpovich is a freelance contributor to the Associated Press, The Sporting News, Baltimore Sun, and PressBox, among other media outlets nationwide, including the Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News, and Chicago Tribune. He is the author or co-author of six non-fiction books.