Albert Breer: Jaguars' Trevor Lawrence Has Greatest Value of Next Crop of QBs

Among the three young quarterbacks set to be paid, Albert Breer thinks Trevor Lawrence has the most value.

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) celebrates the third touchdown for the Jaguars during the second quarter of an NFL football matchup Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA

The buzz around a potential Trevor Lawrence contract has never been lounder.

That isn't to say Lawrence's future extension with the Jacksonville Jaguars is exactly imminent, but the impending deal has become one of the offseason's most-talked about topics in recent weeks.

Lawrence isn't alone in terms of quarterbacks due for a payday, which makes his situation and timeline all the more fascinating. Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott could lead the pack and be the top quarterback on the market sooner than later, but other young quarterbacks like Tua Tagovailoa and Jordan Love are set to get paid around the same time as Lawrence.

So, how could Lawrence's value compare to that of Love and Tagovailoa as the Green Bay Packers and Miami Dolphins sort through their own quarterback questions?

That was the exact question posed to Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, who wrote that Lawrence could carry the most value of any of the three passers.

"Now that we have that important matter settled, I’m tempted to say that the one of those three with the highest number will be the last one to sign, because I do think they’re all in the bucket of quarterbacks that have great value, yet fall short of the Patrick Mahomes–Joe Burrow–Josh Allen–Lamar Jackson tier, and usually when guys have similar value a game of contractual leapfrog can ensue," SI's Albert Breer said.

"If you’re asking which quarterback of the three has the greatest value right now, though, both to his team and in the hypothetical that he somehow got to the market, it’d be easy for me to answer that one," Breer continued. "It’s Lawrence, who has a combination of track record and ceiling that Tagovailoa and Love don’t at this point. Which is why I think he’s easily the surest bet of the three to get in the $50 million club (I do think all three will make it there)."

Lawrence finished the season completing 65.6% of his passes for 4,016 yards, 21 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, along with seven lost fumbles. Lawrence also missed his first career start as he dealt with four different injuries, with Lawrence seemingly having to limp to the finish of the season.

Lawrence sustained four different injuries last fall that forced him to miss valuable practice time and play in several games with injuries: a knee injury in Week 6, an ankle injury in Week 13, a concussion in Week 15, and then finally a shoulder injury in Week 16 that forced him to miss his first-career start.

Among Lawrence's 16 starts, his four starts after each injury saw Lawrence have his 2nd, 5th, 7th, and 8th worst games of the season by total EPA.

“Yeah, there’s definitely been some conversations as far as where that’s at now. It’s not really my focus, I’d love to obviously be a Jag for as long as possible. We love it here and I love where we’re headed as an organization and feel like I’m just getting better," Lawrence said in April. "My best ball is definitely ahead of me. From that standpoint, obviously yeah, that would be great. But like I said, going into my fourth year, it’s not like this is necessarily going to be my last season. There’s a lot that could happen. It’s not really my focus right now, at the end of the day, my job isn’t going to change whether I get extended or not before this season.

"My job is to go win games and to be the best I can be for this team so we can have a chance to win the Super Bowl. Even if I get the contract extension, that’s still my job even more so, there’s even more expectation and pressure on that. For me, I have the same focus and the same mindset. I can’t lie, obviously it would be nice to have that done and feel good about it, but no, it’s not really the focus right now. I know where we’re at, I know where we’re heading and I know what I have to do. I know there’s some improvements that I have to move going forward.”