Jaguars News: GM Says Team ‘Can’t Force’ Extension With The Veteran Quarterback Say…
The Jacksonville Jaguars have been quite active this offseason. The team acquired quarterback Mac Jones, signed inconsistent wide receiver Gabe Davis and signed their defensive star Josh Allen to an extension. The Jaguars have been busy, but they hope it doesn’t stop there.
The next item on their docket is to extend their franchise quarterback and former number-one overall pick, Trevor Lawrence. While everyone in the organization wants to get it done, including general manager Trent Baalke, he says, ‘You can’t force this stuff.’
“We’ve had some great talks and great conversations,” Baalke said this week, via team transcript, when asked about a Lawrence extension this offseason. “I spoke with his agency again last night. We’re working, but you can’t force this stuff. I said the same thing with Josh’s situation, I said it would take some time and it did. But we’re glad it got completed when it did so we could go into this offseason program knowing that’s behind us and we can move forward. We’re working at it, we’ll continue to work at it. Ownership is involved, obviously. Coach is involved; we’re going to put our best foot forward and hope to get something accomplished here.”
Lawrence is eligible for an extension after playing three NFL seasons. Unfortunately, his third NFL season was ridiculed for inconsistent play. In 2023, the 24-year-old led his team to an 8-8 record as he missed one game. Lawrence completed 370 passes, completing 65.6% of his passes, 21 touchdowns with 14 interceptions. 2023 was supposed to be the year the Jaguars showed they are the powerhouse in the AFC South; however, after a 6-2 start, the team spiraled after their Week 9 bye and went 3-6. They missed the playoffs entirely.
The Jaguars selected the one-time Pro Bowler in the 2021 NFL draft. He’s already collected 11770 passing yards and 58 touchdowns, completed 63.8% of his passes, and has a passer rating of 85 through 50 games in his short career. While all sides would love to get a deal done, Lawrence said that is not his current focus.
“There’s definitely been some conversations as far as where that’s at now. It’s not really my focus,” Lawrence said. “I’d love to obviously be a Jag for as long as possible. We love it here and I love where we’re headed as an organization and feel like I’m just getting better every year, and my best ball is definitely ahead of me. So from that standpoint, obviously yeah, that would be great. But like I said, going into my fourth year, it’s not like this is necessarily going to be my last season. There’s a lot that could happen.”
Quarterbacks from Lawrence’s previous draft class of 2020, like Justin Herbert and Joe Burrow, got massive extensions. Now, Lawrence is on the clock, and we’ll see if his team and the Jags can get something as we get deeper into the offseason.
