The Jacksonville Jaguars have a franchise quarterback in Trevor Lawrence, but there's chatter around the NFL that they could trade him. The biggest reason is that they could have a new regime that will oversee a full-blown rebuild next year. Add the fact that the Jags are poised to hold the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, and it's easy to see why the former Clemson Tiger has been the subject of speculation.
The truth is that Jacksonville probably won't place Trevor Lawrence on the trade block but former NFL running back Tiki Barber believes the New York Giants must make a run for him if they did.
The only way this works is if the Jacksonville Jaguars decide we're moving on from Doug Peterson, we're going to change everything, we're going to strip everything down," Barber said on WFAN 660. "And you know that as the worst team in the league is currently, they hold the No. 1 overall draft pick, they might want to reset at quarterback. And even if they don't, I think whoever is running, I think it's going to be Joe Schoen and Dave, the guys that are running the New York Giants need to consider that as an option, figure out the package it's going to take, and trade for Trevor Lawrence."
Barber continued, "He's got all of the talent that you want. The challenge for him is that he hasn't had consistency in his coaching staff and his coordinator the last couple of years, Press Taylor, and him never felt like they've been on the same page. And if the issue is that you're worried about the turnovers, what was Dave's best accomplishment with Daniel Jones two years ago? He led the league in turnover percentage."
"I think this is an interesting scenario and an option, because if you are the giants, and talking about the organization. John Mara, the Tischs making a decision on a head coach, how many years are you going to give them to draft a quarterback and then hope that he develops?"
Barber doesn't make a trade proposal, but it's fair to say that a quarterback of Lawrence caliber would command two first-rounders, probably three like Deshaun Watson did back in 2022. Later in the exchange, the former Giants running back makes the case that New York coach Brian Daboll could help the fourth-year quarterback bounce back, and he's probably right.
After all, Daboll turned Daniel Jones into a competent quarterback and helped him earn a $160 million contract in 2023. Unfortunately, the Duke product regressed to the point where he left the G-Men no choice but to cut him.
Granted, New York would need to be willing to take on Lawrence's five-year contract worth $275 million. Then again, that would probably be a better alternative than looking for a quarterback in the draft and hoping he develops.
Having said that, there are a couple reasons why the Jaguars wouldn't entertain the thought of trading Lawrence. You can listen to Barber make the case for the Giants to trade for the fourth-year quarterback below.
Tiki makes the case for Giants to try for a Trevor Lawrence trade:@EvanandTikiWFAN pic.twitter.com/I92kWeCb1d
— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) November 21, 2024
Why the Jaguars won't trade Trevor Lawrence to the Giants or any other team
As tempting as the prospect of three first-round selections would be, draft picks are unknown commodities while Trevor Lawrence has already proved he can play quarterback at a high level in the NFL. Think about it, the same reason teams would be interested in trading for him is the same reason the Jacksonville Jaguars would want to keep him.
On top of that, there would be a massive roadblock to trading Trevor Lawrence even if the Jaguars wanted to. If they sent him to another team or released him in 2025, it would accelerate a cap charge of $116 million and create $133 million in dead money. This is to say that trading Lawrence would not be practical at all, as it would leave the team with no cap room to operate with.
Unless Lawrence gave the Jaguars no choice, they would take that path. Early in 2024, the Denver Broncos released Russell Wilson and took on the $84 million cap charge but that's because the current regime inherited him and he wasn't playing great at the time of his release. Lawren'ce's circumstances are completely different, and barring a full meltdown, he'll remain in Duval for years to come.
The bottom line is that trading Trevor Lawrence sounds easy at first sight, but it becomes considerably more difficult once you try to work out the math, and because it's a hurdle teams won't be able to clear, expect him to remain in Jacksonville.