NFL bust argues Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence deserves top-tier money

Former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf wasn’t impressed with Trevor Lawrence as recently as 2023. However, it looks that Leaf altered his view, as he now believes the Jacksonville Jaguars should give their star quarterback top-tier money.

Leaf made an appearance on Up & Adams and claimed that Lawrence needs to be paid due of his importance for the Jaguars, stressing that how he views him is immaterial to the argument.

“When it comes to contract negotiations, it’s much different than how I view Trevor Lawrence as a player and as a human being,” Leaf stated to Kay Adams, the host. “The kid is—I keep calling him a kid—I went to Clemson to speak with Trevor after his freshman year, and we’ve stayed in touch ever since.

been in contact ever since. The child has never lost prior to meeting Urban Meyer. year one and drops more games than all of his previous combined.”

“And to watch him persevere in facing challenges, given that he is the team captain for that football squad. Trevor Lawrence is the quarterback, so if you’re telling me there’s someone else who can perform better than him in Jacksonville and eventually bring the team where they need to go, you’re selling me a false impression. Yes, he does deserve very good money. I’m alright if you don’t want to publicly release his numbers. And that’s how most people choose to proceed. I believe he’s  the franchise of the Jacksonville Jaguars,” Leaf stated. Considering that Leaf is one of the biggest busts in league history, you could argue that his assessment should be taken with a grain of salt. That being said, Leaf has made a complete 180-degree turn in his opinion. In 2023, for example, he believed that Trevor Lawrence was the eighth-best quarterback in the AFC South, despite the fact that he had just led the Jaguars to the divisional round of the playoffs. Ryan, at the time, only stated that Lawrence needed to build on his sophomore season, but he did not offer any specific explanations for his ranking so low. Presumably, that

inserted the disclaimer before his analysis.

You could argue that Leaf might still believe that Lawrence is the eighth-best passer in the AFC, but it’s difficult to understand why a middle-of-the-pack quarterback would get compensation comparable to that of a franchise. Because of this, it’s reasonable to assume that Leaf thinks more highly of Lawrence than he did the previous season. Here’s the entire conversation.

It’s difficult to find someone these days who doesn’t believe Trevor Lawrence should sign a top-tier contract. It seems that a good quarterback costs $50 million a year. It’s understandable that Tua Tagovailoa would reject an offer from the Miami Dolphins, as was recently reported.

Tagovailoa is by no means a top player, but Jared Goff recently signed a $212 million, four-year contract. It’s reasonable to assume that Trevor Lawrence may receive at least that amount, and Tagovaila is likely hoping to sign a contract in that area.

The issue is that quarterback salaries are only going to rise, so the Jaguars will end up needing to spend more money the longer they put off paying Lawrence. You could contend that he hasn’t accomplished enough to be eligible for a top-market contract, but that isn’t how the pay scale for the role operates.

The quarterback who is most likely to receive an extension gets to reset the market or go very close to it. This is because there aren’t enough people filling the post. The Jaguars, for example, had made multiple attempts over years to locate a reliable center, but they were unsuccessful until they selected Lawrence.

This means that the quarterback position is finally addressed for the Jacksonville Jaguars. To It would be better for them to pay Trevor Lawrence as soon as possible to avoid having to start over. Ryan Leaf, who wasn’t too fond of him in 2023, appears to concur as well.