Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence gave his side of the viral trade rumor that emerged last week.
In an appearance on FanDuel TV’s “Up & Adams” show, Lawrence was asked what his reaction was to rumors that the Pittsburgh Steelers were trying to trade for him. The rumor caught Lawrence and his camp off guard, though they doubted it was true.
Still, Lawrence said his agent was confused enough by the rumor that his camp contacted ESPN’s Adam Schefter to figure out if there was any truth to the story.
“When (my agent) sent it to me, I wouldn’t say your heart drops, but you kind of think, I have a no-trade clause in my contract. I would know about it if I was getting traded or if that was something that was going to happen,” Lawrence said. “I’d have to be on board with it, which I’m not. I’m happy here in Jacksonville. We want to win a Super Bowl here and I think we can do that.
“My agent reached out to Adam Schefter and was just like, ‘hey, you hear anything about this?’ Liam (Coen) texted me the day after it came out and said ‘I shouldn’t even have to say this, but that’s not coming from us.’ He didn’t even have to send that. There was no doubt on my side.”
The original report claimed that a source from the Jaguars organization said the Steelers were engaged in trade talks to acquire Lawrence. The Jaguars quickly went out of their way to deny that report.
As Lawrence noted, he has a no-trade clause, so any trade would have to be approved by him. The fact that he was never in the loop suggests that even if the Steelers did call about Lawrence, talks did not go far.
Lawrence threw for 2,045 yards with 11 touchdowns and 7 interceptions in 10 games last season, with his campaign cut short due to injuries. The Jaguars gave him a big new contract a year ago, and there is no reason to think they want to move on from their franchise quarterback.
The Steelers do need a quarterback, even if it won’t be Lawrence. The likelier option is that they wind up running it back with someone who already knows the organization.
