Trevor Lawrence got paid on Thursday. The Jacksonville Jaguars locked up their quarterback with a five-year, $275 million deal that includes $200 million guaranteed. The average annual value of the contract is $55 million, which ties Joe Burrow’s deal for the highest in the NFL.
Jacksonville made Lawrence the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft after an outstanding career at Clemson. He has far outplayed the other quarterbacks from his class, but that really isn’t saying much. Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Justin Fields and Mac Jones have all already been traded by the teams that originally selected them.
While Lawrence hasn’t established himself as a top five NFL quarterback, at 24 his potential is unlimited. In 2023, Lawrence completed 65.6 percent of his passes for 4,016 yards, with 21 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He posted a quarterback rating of 88.5 and a QBR of 56.1. That was a step back from his Pro Bowl campaign in 2022 when he completed 66.3 percent of his throws for 4,113 yards, with 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He had a career-high passer rating of 95.2 and a QBR of 56.1.
With a better supporting cast, those number should rise, and he certainly has the ability to live up to his new, massive contract. After Lawrence and Burrow the field of the top-paid quarterbacks is awful crowded.
|
PLAYER/TEAM |
AVERAGE ANNUAL VALUE |
TOTAL VALUE |
TOTAL GUARANTEE |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars |
$55 million |
$275 million |
$200 million |
|
Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals |
$55 million |
$275 million |
$219 million |
|
Jared Goff, Detroit Lions |
$53 million |
$212 million |
$170.6 million |
|
Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers |
$52.5 million |
$262.5 million |
$193.7 million |
|
Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens |
$52 million |
$260 million |
$185 million |
|
Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles |
$51 million |
$255 million |
$179.3 million |
|
Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals |
$46.1 million |
$230.5 million |
$160 million |
|
Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns |
$46 million |
$230 million |
$230 million |
|
Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons |
$45 million |
$180 million |
$100 million |
|
Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs |
$45 million |
$450 million |
$141 million |
One of the big takeaways from looking through a list of the NFL’s highest paid quarterbacks is the realization that Patrick Mahomes is clearly underpaid. The two-time MVP and three-time Super Bowl champion agreed to a 10-year, $450 million deal during the 2020 offseason. At the time, that was a paradigm-shifting contract for the sports world. Now? It looks like a steal.
Mahomes is head and shoulders above the rest of the NFL’s quarterbacks, but his contract ranks 10th in average annual value at $45 million. At some point, that will change and he’ll agree to a new deal with the Kansas City Chiefs. It may happen after the salary cap rises again following the 2024 season.
Part of the reason quarterback salaries have grown exponentially over the past few years is the fact that the league’s salary cap was due to make a huge jump this offseason. In 2023, the cap was set at $224.8 million, but in 2024 it will be set at $255.4 million. That’s an increase of more than $30 million. It is projected to grow to somewhere around $260 to $265 million for 2025.
Those increases leave teams far more room to sign other pieces, but quarterbacks won’t be satisfied take a smaller percentage of cap space than they did in the past. The change is being reflected in new contracts, and could lead players who are already locked into deals to push for more money. Guys like Burrow and Justin Herbert signed their contracts under the old cap and will quickly be surpassed by the next round of deals.
The cap increases could lead to this list changing dramatically in the next few years.