On Thursday, the Jacksonville Jaguars and quarterback Trevor Lawrence agreed to a massive five-year contract extension worth $275 million. The contract included $200 million in guaranteed money, with $142 million due at signing. To simplify, he’ll make $55 million per season, tied with Bengals’ QB Joe Burrow for the most in football.
The deal sounds nice for Lawrence — the former first-overall pick from the 2019 NFL Draft — but if you’re Tagovailoa, you must feel a bit slighted. After all, the numbers suggest that Tua has been superior to Lawrence in almost every facet of his game. But don’t believe me. Check out this graphic I found on Twitter .com.
As you can see, besides potential coming out of college, the only thing Lawrence has over Tua is his ability to extend plays with his legs, something Miami’s QB1 is looking to expand on this offseason. Lawrence also has a playoff victory, which we can’t overlook. But from top to bottom, Tagovailoa has the advantage statistically, and you have to believe that his new agents at Athletes First have to agree.
On Saturday, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero and Judy Battista discussed the latest on Tua’s contract negotiations. Pelissero and Battista suggested that $55 million per season is the new floor for Tagovailoa and his camp after Trevor’s extension.
“Miami, of course, has the leverage of a couple of franchise tags they could apply beyond (the fifth-year option),” Pelissero said. “But this was always a deal that when it gets done, it’s going to be $50M+ for Tua Tagovailoa. And you can certainly make an argument, Judy, that with a Trevor Lawrence deal, $55M is now the new floor for Tua in Miami.”
Batista echoed his sentiment but went even one step further.
“There’s no question, and Tua when he made those comments, ‘he was antsy,’ that’s the word he used… imagine how he must feel now that Trevor Lawrence — a guy who was drafted a year after Tua was drafted — he’s already got his extension. Tua’s is not done yet. Certainly, $55M is now the new floor for Tua. And if the Miami Dolphins are not there and they want to get this deal done before they open training camp, they have to get there. Because that is the number and the number is only rising with every day that passes.”
