The Jacksonville Jaguars raised eyebrows when they gave a massive extension to Trevor Lawrence in 2024. After all, the first overall pick in 2021 had shown at that point that he could play at a high level but also had a few stretches of inconsistency.
Lawrence validated the Jags' decision to pay him with a banner 2025 campaign in which he played like a top-10 quarterback to end the year. And Matthew Stafford's latest extension proves that they made the right call by getting ahead of the curve.
Matthew Stafford's deal shows the Jaguars got a bargain in Trevor Lawrence
Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that the Los Angeles Rams gave Matthew Stafford a one-year extension worth $55 million with a max value of $60 million. The reigning MVP is now slated to make $105 million through 2027.
Dak Prescott is the highest-paid quarterback at $60 million per year, but Stafford is by no means earning chump change. Before his extension, his salary ranked 14th among quarterbacks. Afterward, he's now 10th.
Surprisingly, Lawrence's annual average of $55 million ranks fifth, so he's making more than Stafford. But here's the thing: The way the contract is structured, he has a relatively low cap hit of $24 million in 2026. It goes up to $35 million next year, but it's still manageable.
It isn't until 2028 that it goes up to $47 million and $74 million one year later. But by then, the salary cap will have increased substantially, so Lawrence's deal won't look nearly as massive.
And that's the thing, had the Jaguars waited until the end of 2025, when his contract was set to originally expire, they would have to fork out way more. On top of that, they wouldn't have been able to spread the cap hits in order to give the team's brass more flexibility.
Trevor Lawrence gives the Jaguars cap flexibility
There's no doubt that Trent Baalke built a good roster core before he was fired. However, he also left the Jaguars in a precarious cap situation. Heck, this year alone, they had more than $50 million in dead money because of bad deals Baalke handed. That said, he got it right with Trevor Lawrence's extension.
After 2026, Jacksonville will no longer be on the hook for much dead money. Couple that with the fact that Lawrence's cap hit is team-friendly, and the front office will be able to lock up its homegrown talent.
Already, the Jags gave defensive end Travon Walker a $110 million extension. Either wide receiver Parker Washington or tight end Brenton Strange could be next. Even after re-signing those two, the front office may have a bit of space to spare to make a signing or two in free agency next year.
Either way, the Jaguars are going to have cap flexibility because extending Trevor Lawrence before they had to was the right call, even if it might not have seemed like it at the time. Now, they have a potential MVP candidate under contract through 2030.
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