As the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Trevor Lawrence will have the highest-slotted deal among rookies in the league.
Lawrence, who was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars during the event last week, has been making his way throughout the area and getting prepared to take over as the new face of the franchise.
Just in the last couple of weeks, Trevor Lawrence has signed endorsement deals with major companies like Gatorade, Adidas, Bose and Blockfolio, and he also shattered the record for merchandise purchased on draft night, previously set by Joe Burrow last spring.
Here’s what Trevor Lawrence’s NFL rookie contract will look like
Many have wondered how much Lawrence will make off his rookie deal considering the contract is based off a slotted system by the NFL rather than a free-market negotiation.
Earlier this week, ESPN’s Field Yates reported that the value for Lawrence’s contract had been set and that he would make more than what Joe Burrow did last season on his deal.
The value for the contract that Trevor Lawrence will eventually sign with the Jaguars has been set: the four-year deal (plus a fifth year option) will be worth $36,793,486, including a signing bonus of $24,118,900.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) May 3, 2021
Yates reports that Lawrence will eventually sign a four-year deal (with a fifth year option) that will be worth nearly $36.8 million with a signing bonus of $24.1 million.
According to Jags wire, Lawrence’s signing bonus will be prorated over four years in increments of $6,029,744. His projected base salary amount will steadily increase each season.
"“When breaking down Lawrence’s signing bonus, it will be prorated over his four year deal in increments of $6,029,744. Per Over the Cap, he’s projected to have base salary amounts of $660,000, $2,332,436, $4,004,872, $5,677,308, respectively, over the course of his four-year contract that has a fifth-year option,” Jags wire reports."
What may be most interesting here is the nature of rookie deals in the league today.
Patrick Mahomes still had two years remaining on his rookie contract when he signed a deal worth 10-year deal worth $503 million with the Kansas City Chiefs. Deshaun Watson still had the same amount of years left when he signed a four-year deal worth $156 million.
If Lawrence performs at a high level in his first couple of years in the league, he could easily ditch the rest of that rookie contract to become potentially the highest-paid player in the NFL. Honestly, that all could happen before D.J. Uiagelelei is even drafted.
The main point? We wouldn’t put too much into this rookie contract. It’s a guaranteed amount for Lawrence to start out with, but it won’t be long before his contract numbers soar well past those initial figures as long as he performs.