Debunking Outlandish Stances on Jaguars' Trevor Lawrence

Lawrence never got to reap the pleasures of NIL during his time with the Clemson Tigers, but he's probably not too upset about it. He just signed a lucrative five-year, $275 million contract with Jacksonville, including $200 million guaranteed. He received $37.5 million as soon as the ink dried.

With that kind of pay day, he shouldn't stress about the money he could have made in college had he been born a little later. However, some have surmised that T-Law shouldn't be getting paid the way he is now by the Jaguars, either. His new deal tied him for the second-highest-paid quarterback in the NFL next season, which begs the question: Is Trevor Lawrence overpaid?

Trevor Lawrence will have to earn his contract

The Athletic recently went on X to promote one of their articles, firing a stray at the Jacksonville Jaguars and Trevor Lawrence in the process. The post read:

"NFL teams are skeptical of the contracts handed out to QBs like Trevor Lawrence, Tua Tagovailoa and Jordan Love."

It also included a pull-quote from an anonymous NFL executive, stating:

"We're paying guys just to pay guys."

In a sense, that's true. The Jaguars essentially had to pay Lawrence. They drafted him four years ago with the first-overall pick to be their franchise quarterback. Not giving him the contract would have been a sign of doubt in his capabilities, as well as a question of their own confidence that they can build a winning team around him.

To be fair, The Athletic's article was more about how paying quarterbacks so handsomely can hamstring a franchise's ability to build a competitive, well-balanced roster than an indictment on Lawrence's salary specifically. But even that is kind of a moot point.

What's the alternative?

For one, Jacksonville has a surplus this season, with over $10 million in salary cap room after cutting down to its 53-man roster. Secondly, cap space can be a bit overrated in the NFL. The largest contract doled out in this past free agency went to a quarterback: Sam Darnold's with the Seattle Seahawks for $33.5 million this year. After that, it was Milton Williams' four-year, $104 million contract, which many have already called an overpay.

In reality, if the Jaguars didn't pay Trevor Lawrence, other teams would have been happy to do so to snag a potential franchise quarterback. What's the alternative? Signing Darnold and saving just over $20 million a year to spend on someone like Milton Williams?

Would Jacksonville be better off with Darnold and Williams than they are with Lawrence? I'm willing to bet they wouldn't be, and so are the Jaguars, although their five-year, $275 million wager is a bit more confident than mine.

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