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The Jacksonville Jaguars have already had an eventful offseason and the NFL’s free agency period is still about a month away. The team whiffed on top head coaching candidates early on before deciding it needed to move on from longtime GM Trent Baalke to make the job more attractive. The strategy worked as the Jaguars lured Liam Coen away from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before he could sign a deal that would have made him the league’s highest paid offensive coordinator.
So the Jaguars got their offensive-minded head coach to pair with their talented, young quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who’s entering his fifth year in the pros. But then news broke that the Pittsburgh Steelers attempted to swoop in and land Lawrence in a trade that would have left all of Doo-valll County in tears – and likely sent Coen back to Baker Mayfield and the Bucs on bended knee.
The only issue? There’s no evidence that such a trade was ever proposed by the Steelers as the Jaguars shot down any Lawrence to Pittsburgh trade talk.
So Lawrence is staying in Jacksonville, where Coen will set about attempting to maximize the considerable potential possessed by the former first overall draft pick. Still, news of a potential trade blindsided the quarterback. “When [my agent] sent [news of the trade] to me, I wouldn’t say your heart drops, but you’re kind of like, ‘What?’” Lawrence explained via ProFootballTalk.
However, soon after learning of the rumor, Lawrence realized that the no-trade clause in his contract made getting blindsided by a trade impossible. “I’d have to be on board with it – which I’m not. I’m happy here in Jacksonville. I plan on – we want to win a Super Bowl here, and I think we can do that. And I don’t want to leave Jacksonville. So, I’m happy here, obviously. I’m not going to Pittsburgh,” Lawrence said.
The Jaguars just rewarded Lawrence with a five-year, $275 million contract prior to the 2024 season. The deal made the former Pro Bowler the second highest paid quarterback in football in terms of annual value. Lawrence is behind only Dak Prescott at $60 million per year, and he’s tied with Joe Burrow and Jordan Love at $55 million annually.
Additionally, Lawrence’s deal includes $200 million guaranteed. That’s the fifth-most guaranteed dollars in the league behind Deshaun Watson, Patrick Mahomes, Prescott and Burrow.
So it’s clear that Lawrence isn’t going anywhere. In fact, the Jaguars don’t even currently have a general manager to make such a deal after, eventually, firing Baalke in an effort to woo Coen. The team is currently interviewing candidates for the GM job. Of course, had Jacksonville dealt Lawrence to the Steelers just weeks after Coen’s unprecedented machinations to land the Jaguars’ head coach gig, no one wold be happier than the Bucs organization.
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