Jacksonville Jaguars eager to hand QB Trevor Lawrence a big extension after his third year
- Heinrich Griessel
- 8 March 2023
The Jacksonville Jaguars are already planning to reward quarterback Trevor Lawrence with a new contract when he is eligible after the 2023 NFL season.
Lawrence was off to an underwhelming start in his rookie year as he struggled to keep the ball safe, throwing 17 interceptions and only 12 touchdowns.
However, the 23-year-old improved leaps and bounds in 2022 as he threw only eight interceptions and a much-improved 25 touchdowns.
Lawrence's improvement helped the Jaguars win five in a row to finish the 2022 regular season 9-8 and clinch the AFC South divisional title.
"We know what the future holds," Jaguars coach Doug Pederson recently told Jeff Howe of The Athletic.
"But it's also been proven in the NFL that you can pay your quarterback and still keep a pretty good roster around your quarterback. It's been done.
"We've got to be able to look at those models, too. I guess the beauty, too, is we've got the majority of our guys in long-term deals, so that will also help us when we get ready to redo Trevor in a year or so.
"I kind of let (general manager) Trent (Baalke) and (director of roster management) Trip (MacCracken) handle that and all the powers that be over on that side of the equation.
"My job is to get our team ready right now with the guys we have. We'll cross that bridge a year from now."
He added: "He's constantly wanting to get better. He's constantly wanting to learn. He's wanting to grow. He puts in the time. That's what great quarterbacks do in this league, and he's just getting started."
