Although Trevor Lawrence has been wildly inconsistent at times this season, he's shown enough progress under Liam Coen to make you think that he could stay with the Jacksonville Jaguars beyond 2025. Of course, he will need to keep improving and build enough consistency in order for the questions about his future in Jacksonville to go away.
Until then, though, there will be chatter about the Jags potentially trading No. 16 next offseason, even if the alternatives aren't any better. That said, it won't be for the reason an NFL analyst recently offered.
The Draft Network makes the case for the Jaguars to trade Trevor Lawrence
Jaime Eisner of The Draft Network argues that the Jaguars could listen to trade offers for Trevor Lawrence, bringing up the fact that head coach Liam Coen may not be pleased with him. Here's the skinny.
"There's a Trevor Lawrence conundrum, and I think we all experience it for about three hours every Sunday, Eisner told colleague The Draft Network colleague Paige Dimakos. "Jaguars are as chaotic of a team as Trevor Lawrence's chaotic of a quarterback, and it's gotten me thinking that he's a sneaky guy that might become available this offseason."
Eisner continued, "And you've seen a couple times this year where Liam Cohen, even today, where he went out there, and you could see him visibly gesturing confusion or anger in the direction of Trevor Lawrence. But I do wonder if they will casually listen to teams, and that Trevor Lawrence might end up being a little bit more available than you think."
All is good until that point, right? There's a new regime in Jacksonville, one that hasn't shied away from cutting ties with players that don't fit the program, and given that there's been speculation about Lawrence's future, nobody would bat an eye if the Jags trade him next year, even if the odds are slim.
But then, the conversation goes off rails when Dimakos suggests Jacksonville trades No. 16 because ** checks notes ** is "just Jacksonville."
"But I gotta be honest with you, I would love to see Trevor in a new situation, because Jacksonville is just Jacksonville, and I'm ready for him to be somewhere else and see the prince thrive somewhere," Dimakos said.
Lawrence is coming off a game in which he had four turnovers. But at the same time, he put together several scoring drives and made a few throws that some quarterback could only pull off on their slip.
For the season, the former Clemson Tiger has completed 59.8 percent of his throws for 2,407 yards with 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Given that he's adjusting to the most complex scheme of his career, there's a chance he'll continue to show progress and finish the year strong.
The Jaguars would have better reasons to trade Trevor Lawrence (but appear to be pleased)
If Dimakos' goal was to get clicks, she achieved it. However, she's doing it at the expense of not being taken seriously. You could make several compelling reasons why the Jaguars should move on from Lawrence, but just because they play in Jacksonville isn't one of them. It plays on the old trope that the Jags aren't relevant.
Granted, the Jaguars don't often get the national spotlight, but that's mostly because they haven't enjoyed sustained success dating back to the early 2000s. It isn't because they're one of the youngest NFL franchises or because they play in a small market, as Dimakos suggested. Simply, they haven't been that good outside of a few years.
Had Dimakos said that Liam Coen wants to bring his own guy, or that the new regime isn't sold on Lawrence and they could trade him for picks, that would have made sense. She didn't. Instead, she went for the low-hanging fruit. But let's not miss the forest for the trees.
Could the Jaguars trade Lawrence? You bet. They traded Christian Kirk before free agency and released Gabe Davis after the draft. They later shipped center Luke Fortner and Tyson Campbell. Simply put, no player is off limits. Having said that, Liam Coen appears to be high on Lawrence, continually showing public support for his quarterback.
This doesn't mean that the Jags won't trade Trevor Lawrence; they just won't do it because they're in Jacksonville.