Lawrence, the top selection in the 2021 NFL draft, just completed his third season and became eligible to sign a contract extension under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the NFL Players Association. He previously was signed through the 2025 season after the Jaguars exercised the fifth-year option in his rookie deal.
Lawrence was selected to the Pro Bowl for the 2022 season, when he threw 25 touchdown passes and had only eight interceptions. But last season was more of a struggle, as he threw 14 interceptions to bring his three-year total to 39.
Even so, he has demonstrated that he is capable of being an upper-tier NFL quarterback. That is a rarity for his draft class: The other four quarterbacks chosen in the top 15 picks — Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Justin Fields and Mac Jones — all have been traded. Jones, the 15th overall selection in that draft by the New England Patriots, now is Lawrence’s backup with the Jaguars.
Lawrence has thrown for 11,770 yards and 58 touchdowns in his three NFL seasons. The Jaguars have gone 20-30 in his regular season starts and reached the playoffs for the 2022 season.
Burrow supplanted the Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert last year as the NFL’s highest-paid player. Herbert agreed to a five-year, $262.5 million extension in July with the Chargers. That came three months after Lamar Jackson’s five-year, $260 million extension with the Baltimore Ravens in April 2023. Jackson’s deal came on the heels of Jalen Hurts’s five-year, $255 million extension with the Philadelphia Eagles earlier that month.
Lawrence’s deal includes $200 million in guaranteed money, according to the two people with knowledge of the contract terms.
Other top quarterbacks could follow in the coming months, with the Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa, the Dallas Cowboys’ Dak Prescott and the Green Bay Packers’ Jordan Love among those who could sign extensions.