Jacksonville Jaguars exercise fifth-year options on Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne

Before the deadline hits on May 2, the Jaguars announced this week that they’ve exercised their fifth-year options for quarterback Trevor Lawrence and running back Trevor Etienne. The former Clemson duo were first-round draft picks in the 2021 NFL Draft with Lawrence going No. 1 overall and Etienne going at No. 25 overall. Their rookie deals included fifth-year options, which allows the team to keep them on for one more year without having to negotiate. The fifth-year option price tags are lower than what they would pay to extend them on long-term deals.

After the Jaguars took him first overall, Lawrence inked a four-year deal for $36.79 million. His fifth-year option only costs them $25.66 million, which is half the going rate of the league’s best-paid quarterbacks. As for Etienne, his fifth-year option is estimated to be $6.143 million for the 2025 season.

Etienne, who had to miss his first season with the Jaguars as he recovered from injury, is coming off of his second 1,000-yard rushing season. He had 1,008 rushing yards with a career-high 11 rushing touchdowns. In 2022, he posted 1,125 yards and five rushing touchdowns. He’s also added 792 receiving yards over the last two seasons.

Contract extension talks underway in Jacksonville

Last week, Lawrence optioned up about extension talks with the Jags. A contract extension could make Lawrence one of the highest-paid players in the NFL, but the money isn’t the first thing on the quarterback’s mind.

“There’s definitely been some conversations,” Lawrence shared on Tuesday, via ESPN. “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.

“I feel like I’m just getting better every year and my best ball’s definitely ahead of me.”

In his first three years in the league, Lawrence has earned one Pro Bowl nomination and led the team to two winning seasons after a 3-14 start. He’s completed 63.8% of his passes for 11,770 yards and 58 touchdowns with 39 interceptions. He’s been the most successful of the five first-round quarterbacks taken in 2021, which includes Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Justin Fields and Mac Jones – who is now his understudy in Jacksonville.

After helping the Jaguars get off to an 8-3 start last season, a concussion and an ankle injury caused Lawrence to miss the first starts of his career and the team subsequently dropped the last five of six games. Jacksonville narrowly missed out on a playoff appearance and the sting of that disappointment has the QB locked in on winning games – not signing deals.