Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence has no desire to leave Jacksonville. A few days after rumors that the Pittsburgh Steelers were seeking a trade for the 25-year-old quarterback, Lawrence set the record straight — sort of.
Lawrence addressed the rumors on an episode of Up & Adams with Kay Adams on Monday, saying that the Jaguars were never planning on trading him. Although he claimed not to know if Pittsburgh’s interest in him was genuine, Lawrence made it clear that he plans to stay in Jacksonville long-term.
“I have no idea,” Lawrence said of whether the report about the Steelers’ trade interest was true. “I know that we weren’t involved in conversations about that, as far as Jacksonville goes. I don’t know about the Steelers’ desires and wants.”
Lawrence said that he heard about the rumors from his agent, who texted him about the report. The young quarterback said he was just as surprised by the report as anyone else.
“It’s funny, when he sent it to me, it was like — I wouldn’t say your heart drops, but you’re kind of like, ‘What?'” Lawrence said.
Lawrence then remembered that he has a no-trade clause in his contract. “I would’ve known about it if I was getting traded,” he said. “If that was something that was gonna happen, I’d have to be on board with it.
“Which I’m not. I’m happy here in Jacksonville,” Lawrence added. “We wanna win a Super Bowl here and I think we can do that. I don’t wanna leave Jacksonville. I’m happy here, obviously. Not going to Pittsburgh.”
Since the Jaguars don’t currently have a general manager, Lawrence said his agent reached out to ESPN reporter Adam Schefter to ask about the trade rumors. Lawrence added that Jacksonville’s new head coach, Liam Coen, messaged him to say that the Jaguars had no plans to trade him.
“Liam texted me, actually, the day after it came out, and Liam said, ‘Shouldn’t even have to say this, but that’s not coming from us.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I figured,'” Lawrence said. “He didn’t even have to send it. There was no doubt on my side.”
As the rumor circulated on Thursday, the Jaguars told ESPN that the idea of trading Lawrence was “ridiculous,” and said that they never had a conversation about a potential trade.
When pressed by Adams on Monday, Lawrence said that he appreciates Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin, but that he doesn’t serve as a temptation to leave Jacksonville.
“I like Coach Tomlin. He’s a good guy, but no, I’m set here,” Lawrence said. “We love Jacksonville, this is home for us. And there’s a lot more on the football side that we have yet to accomplish here and I’m excited about what we’re building. The future’s very bright, and I want to be the guy here for a long time.”
Lawrence signed a five-year extension with the team last June. The deal is reportedly worth up to $275 million, with $142 million fully guaranteed.
