Jags’ Lawrence wants deal but approach is same

Michael DiRocco, ESPN Staff WriterJun 3, 2024, 02:02 PM ET
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence said he would love to have a contract extension in place before training camp begins in late July, but it’s not going to be an issue for him if he doesn’t.

And it won’t have any impact any on his preparations for his fourth NFL season.

“I think that would be ideal just to put it behind us and keep moving and feel good about that going into training camp,” Lawrence said Monday after the Jaguars’ seventh OTA. “I can’t always control all those factors, but I have the same job to do either way, but yeah, I mean of course that’d be ideal to get it done as soon as you can and kind of move forward.”

Lawrence’s representatives and the Jaguars have been working on an extension for months, and the deal is expected to make him one of the NFL’s highest-paid quarterbacks in terms of average annual salary. Five quarterbacks currently make more than $50 million annually: Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow ($55 million), Detroit’s Jared Goff ($53 million), the Los Angeles Chargers‘ Justin Herbert ($52.5 million), Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson ($52 million) and Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts ($51 million).

Lawrence is entering the final season of the fully guaranteed four-year contract worth $36,793,592 he signed after the Jaguars selected him first overall in 2021. They picked up the fifth-year option, which fully guarantees Lawrence $25.664 million in 2025, so the Jaguars have him locked in for two more seasons.

Lawrence said Monday that he’s more concerned with continuing to develop in his third season in coach Doug Pederson’s offense than being involved in the negotiations with Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke.

“Obviously I’m aware of what’s going on, but I try to keep my focus on doing my job out here,” Lawrence said. “I have full belief that it’ll take care of itself and that’s not something that I need to worry about. That’s why I pay people and hire people to do that for me. So that’s not my job, but obviously I know what’s going on. I’m aware of the situation. I think that’s important, too.

“But yeah, I try to keep all my focus and energy on being the best player I can be to help us win.”

Lawrence is already fourth in Jaguars history in passing yards (11,770) and passing touchdowns (58). He led the Jaguars to the AFC South title in 2022 and rallied the team from a 27-0 deficit to a 31-30 victory over the Chargers in a wild-card playoff game before losing to the Chiefs in a divisional playoff.

Lawrence led the Jaguars to an 8-3 start in 2023, but he battled a concussion and ankle and shoulder injuries in the second half of the season, and the team went 1-5 down the stretch and missed the playoffs. Lawrence did not play in the only game the Jaguars won — against Carolina — because of the shoulder injury he suffered the week before against Tampa Bay.

The Jaguars are 20-30 in Lawrence’s 50 regular-season starts but have posted back-to-back 9-8 seasons, which marked the first time the franchise has had consecutive winning seasons since 2004-05.

“I think it does add a chip on your shoulder when you finish the season the way we did,” Lawrence said. “There’s only one team happy at the end of the year. That’s who wins Super Bowl. So no matter what, you always got something that you’re trying to reach and achieve and that’s the goal. But especially the way our season ended, it adds a little bit of a chip to your shoulder.

“For us though, it has to be the same goal though every week is just to get that much better and to put ourselves in a position to be playing meaningful games in December, January and make a push at the end of the year and just get better every week. Last year is almost, we peaked a little too soon and we didn’t finish the season the way we wanted to. It’s important to be playing your best at the end of the year.”