Does Sports Illustrated Think Trevor Lawrence or Jordan Love Should Be Paid More?

When it comes to the next wave of quarterback contracts, there are a few obvious names.

This list includes young up-and-coming quarterbacks like Trevor Lawrence, Jordan Love, and Tua Tagovailoa, as well as one of the NFL's top veterans in Dak Prescott. While all four are expected to cash in sooner than later and for substantial numbers, the general question is which one will be the highest-paid?

The answer to this question could easily come down to which quarterback gets paid last; as of right now, that looks like it will be Prescott.

But in terms of which quarterbacks actually deserve the top deal, Sports Illustrated's Gilbert Manzano took a look at a debate between Lawrence and Love specifically. Ultimately, Manzano went with Love.

Quarterback contracts will be in the news throughout the summer because Lawrence, Love, Tagovailoa and Prescott are due for contract extensions. Many podcasts and TV debate shows have discussed which quarterback should be the highest paid among the four, possibly joining the $50 million club for signal-callers. Jared Goff’s recent contract extension with the Detroit Lions (an annual average of $53 million) made him the newest member of the club, joining Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert and Jalen Hurts.

To play along with this debate, I quickly ruled out Prescott because of his lack of playoff success, and the same can be said for Tagovailoa, who went cold the last few months of last season and has injury concerns. It came down to Love and Lawrence, who might have the higher upside over Love. But I went with the Green Bay Packers’ star quarterback because of his 2023 breakout season. Lawrence’s best season was ’22 and it probably wasn’t as good as what Love did in his first season as a starter.

But this is not solely about numbers. Love has an elite skill set, just like Lawrence, and he passed the eye test with what he did the final two months of last season. The Packers know they have a future MVP under center. As for the Jacksonville Jaguars, they’re probably wondering whether this will be the year Lawrence finally makes the leap everyone has been waiting for since he was drafted No. 1 in '21.
Gilberto Manzano, Sports Illustrated

Lawrence finished 2023 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.