Trevor Lawrence is tied with Joe Burrow for the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL (in terms of average annual salary). The contract number doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things, only being justified one way.
Not only did Lawrence want to be in Jacksonville, he wants to bring the franchise its first Super Bowl.
"I want to be the quarterback here. I want to bring a championship to Jacksonville, that's my goal and I really know we can accomplish that," Lawrence said at his press conference announcing his extension on Thursday. "I'm excited for that and it just pairs up to we happen to love living here too."
"I want to bring a championship to Jacksonville, that's my goal and I know we can accomplish that."
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) June 20, 2024
- Trevor Lawrence pic.twitter.com/RALprgZba2
Lawrence has been maligned for his performance by pundits, but he's become one of the best quarterbacks in the Jaguars' 30-year history. He is fifth in quarterback victories in Jaguars history (20), fourth in franchise history in passing yards (11,770) and passing touchdowns (58). Lawrence's 11,770 yards passing are the fifth-most in NFL history by a player after three seasons.
Lawrence is coming off a season during which he led the NFL with 21 giveaways and went 0-5 in his last five starts to miss the playoffs. Lawrence has finished with 20-plus giveaways in two of his three seasons, and his 21 fumbles lost are tied with Tony Banks for the most by a player in his first three seasons (stat first tracked in 1991). Lawrence has more fumbles lost than any other player in the past three seasons.
Despite the fumbles, Jacksonville decided to pay Lawrence who became the fourth quarterback to make $200 million fully guaranteed in a contract, joining Deshaun Watson (who received $230 million guaranteed in his 2022 deal), Burrow ($219.01 million guaranteed) and Justin Herbert ($218.7 million guaranteed).
The money wasn't the deciding factor for Lawrence to remain in Jacksonville. He wanted to remain with the franchise that selected him No. 1 overall four years ago.
"We wanted to be here long term, obviously," Lawrence said. "It's a place we love to live in and we know that because we've had some good and some bad times -- as far as football goes. So, we kind of experienced both and we love being here.
"The way the organization's going and the direction that we're heading, on the football side, that makes it a no-brainer for us. We're headed in the right direction."
