Trent Baalke: Jaguars Will Exercise Trevor Lawrence's and Travis Etienne's Options

The Jaguars will keep their two stars from the 2021 NFL Draft class.

Dec 17, 2023; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) / Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

The Jacksonville Jaguars have a pair of easy decisions coming up: picking up the fifth year options with two of their youngest stars.

Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke confirmed Saturday the Jaguars are set to exercise each option. Both Baalke and Lawrence have confirmed earlier this offseason that the two sides have talked about an extension for the former No. 1 pick.

Lawrence finished the season completing 65.6% of his passes for 4,016 yards, 21 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, along with seven lost fumbles. Lawrence also missed his first career start as he dealt with four different injuries, with Lawrence seemingly having to limp to the finish of the season.

After making it through his first two seasons with minimal injury scares, Lawrence was legitimately walking wounded for much of 2023. Lawrence sustained four different injuries this fall that forced him to miss valuable practice time and play in several games with injuries: a knee injury in Week 6, an ankle injury in Week 13, a concussion in Week 15, and then finally a shoulder injury in Week 16 that forced him to miss his first-career start.

The injuries stacked up during the Jaguars' six-game stretch that saw them go 1-5 and miss the playoffs. The injuries led to Lawrence missing his first career start, which went on to be the Jaguars' only win of the stretch. And among Lawrence's 16 starts, his four starts after each injury saw Lawrence have his 2nd, 5th, 7th, and 8th worst games of the season by total EPA.

Etienne, the No. 25 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, earned a vote for Offensive Player of the Year for the first time in his career after proving to be a key cog in the Jaguars' offense in 2023. The offense didn't meet most expectations, but Etienne arguably had a more impactful season than in 2022, leading the league in missed tackles forced and improving as a receiving threat out of the backfield.

Etienne finished the year with his second consecutive 1,000-yard season, rushing for 1,008 yards (3.8 yards per carry) and 11 touchdowns, while also catching 58 passes for 476 yards and a touchdown.

Etienne posted at least two rushing touchdowns in three straight games from Week 5 to Week 7. He became the first player in franchise history to record multiple rushing touchdowns in three consecutive games in a season.

Etienne recorded 1,484 scrimmage yards in 2023, joining Maurice Jones-Drew as the only Jaguars to reach 1,000 scrimmage yards in their first two active NFL seasons. Etienne is the third player in Jaguars history to record 1,300 scrimmage yards in consecutive seasons.