Curse of the QB contracts: Lawrence, Burrow, Love and Tua struggle
This offseason a handful of NFL QBs signed record setting contracts as their teams invested in the future of their franchise. So far it’s not quite going to plan.
It was the offseason of the quarterback in the NFL as some of the league’s youngest and brightest stars inked record breaking, long-term deals that tie a QB to their franchise for a long time to come. There are only five active quarterbacks in the league that have won a Super Bowl, and none were among the players to receive big money contract extensions during the summer.
It was Trevor Lawrence and Joe Burrow who shattered the record books with matching five year deals worth $275 million. Both will make $55 million a year, but at the moment neither the Bengals nor the Jaguars are getting their money’s worth. None of the four QBs who signed some of the richest deals in NFL history are having particularly good starts to their season.
Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars - Five year, $275 million extension
The former Clemson quarterback was tabbed to be the next big thing in the NFL after having one of the most successful college careers ever. He was drafted with the first overall pick in the 2021 draft to a bad Jaguars team that needed a lot of held at a lot of positions. The Jags were convicted they had their QB of the future. After a tough rookie season, he led the Jags to back to back 9-8 seasons but things haven’t been going as smoothly lately.
A late season collapse led to the Jags missing out on the playoffs last year, and this year Lawrence and the Jags are 0-3 and are dealing with some serious issues on the offensive end. Jacksonville’s red zone offense is one of the worst in the league, but that’s not the only problem. Since he was drafted in 2021 Lawrence has more fumbles than anyone in the NFL, and is coming off of a season in which he had 14 interceptions.
Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals - Five year, $275 million extension
For as shocking a start to the season as the Jags are having, what’s happening in Cincinnati may be even worse. For the first time in a while Joe Burrow was coming into the season fully healthy following his injury plagues season that kept him out the second half of last year. Sure, Ja’Marr Chase held out until the opening game of the season, but it seemed like the Bengals were ready to return to the AFC elite conversation before the season started. That couldn’t be farther from the truth after the first three weeks of the season.
The Bengals are 0-3 losing with losses to the Patriots and the Commanders in two of those three weeks. Those are teams that ended last year with the 2nd and 3rd pick in the draft. That means those teams weren’t good last year and aren’t supposed to be good this year. They did give the Chiefs a scare in the second week of the season, but the wins aren’t coming despite Burrow played some pretty efficient football. Through three games Burrow has 749 yards passing, 5 TDs, 0 INTs and is completing 70.9% of his passes, but there’s something not clicking in Cincy.
Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers, 4 year, $240 million
All is well in Green Bay at the moment, despite suffering a serious scare to open in the season. In the Packers Week 1 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles from Sao Paolo, Brazil Jordan Love suffered a knee injury that looked like it might keep him out for a substantial part of the season. Luckily for the Pack, the diagnosis was a sprained MCL which would only keep him out a couple of weeks. In his absence, former third round pick Malik Willis has filled in and led the Packers to back-to-back wins against the Colts and the Titans.
Love is the quarterback of the future. He is the one Green Bay signed to a juicy contract extension after exploding on to the scene in his first year as a starter, but the injury has opened the door for Malik Willis to make a name for himself. There is no word on whether or not Love will be ready for the Packers Week 4 match up with the Vikings, but if he’s not ready and Willis leads the Packers to another win, people will start to talk. If he is ready and Love and the Packers lose to the Vikings, people will also start to talk.
Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins, 4 year, $212 million
The Dolphins took a chance on Tua this offseason after he led Miami to back to back season of not just playoff football, but high octane, explosive, exciting offensive football. The Dolphins have been one of the most potent offensive attacks in the league with Tua at the helm and Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle at WR. Unfortunately, Tua has had his fair share of problems with concussions over the last couple of seasons and Miami knew that but still signed him to a four year deal.
The worst possible thing happened to Tua in the Dophins Thursday Night game against the Buffalo Bills. In a game that was already over, Tua took off on a QB scramble and lowered his head in an effort to pick up a first down, and an all too familiar scene played out on the field. He laid on the ground, woozy and obviously concussed for some time before walking off the feat to a myriad of speculation about his future. He was placed on the IR and will miss the next few weeks as he, his family and the Dolphins continue to consider what is best for his future.