JACKSONVILLE – Money mattered.
Trevor Lawrence said while that was true in recent months as he and the Jaguars worked to secure his financial future, something else was important for both parties:
Ensuring the Jaguars had future resources to compete at a high level.
"That was our goal and it felt like we were able to accomplish it," Lawrence said.
Lawrence, the No. 1 overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft and the Jaguars' starting quarterback the last three seasons, on Thursday signed a five-year contract extension that reportedly means his contract will run through the 2030 season. He agreed to terms on the contract last Thursday.
"It just felt like my agent and [General Manager] Trent [Baalke] and the whole front office did a good job maneuvering all those things where it felt like we all won in the end," he said.
Lawrence said a focus throughout the negotiations was ensuring the Jaguars had money – and salary-cap maneuverability – moving forward.
"There was a certain amount that you as a player want to make and you want to be in market value, all those things," Lawrence said. "But you also want to keep the team in a good position to where we can pay other guys and have players around me and do all those things from a salary cap perspective."
Lawrence said it's his understanding that the contract extension "puts us in a position to where we can still have a lot of talent here."
"We can bring guys in or we can keep the guys that we have," he said. "That was something that was important to me. It wasn't worth it to me to sacrifice being able to have a good team just so I could make some money.
"I felt like we were able to balance that. I thought we did a good job of getting to a point where in the future, we'll have some room and we can really still continue to have players around myself and then defensively on that side of the ball too. I'm excited about that."
Lawrence on Thursday talked extensively about his desire to play in Jacksonville and his optimism about the direction of the organization. The Jaguars, after finishing with the NFL's worst record in 2020 and 2021, have had winning records the last two seasons and won the AFC South in 2022.
The 2022 and 2023 seasons marked the franchise's first back-to-back above .500 seasons since 2004-2005, with Lawrence on Thursday praising Head Coach Doug Pederson, offensive coordinator Press Taylor and the entire coaching staff.
"I feel really confident in the system," he said. "I feel like every year I've gotten better and better in the system. I know this year is going to be a big year to keep improving. I feel really confident in that. Just the overall team that we have, the leadership on the team as far as players … we have such a good group.
"I'm really excited about it. I think this is definitely the best team we've had here. Just at this point in the year from what I've seen, I feel very confident in that. All those things and the building blocks that we have – the players you build around, the type of leaders, the type of people – that's what I feel the most confidence in. That's important to having success."
