AFC Notes: Colts, Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars, Texans, Titans

Colts

Colts GM Chris Ballard commented on the possibility of the team moving up in the draft, noting that there has to be a player worth the price of a potential deal.

“Well one, and I know this is coming up because I know all the speculation out there, one, to move up, there’s got to be a guy worthy of it. Okay? I know everybody in America is going to say – like, this is what’s great right now. Everybody has just automatically stamped that you’ve got to move up to one to get it right. I don’t know if I agree with that, I don’t,” Ballard said, via ColtsWire.com. “When we meet as a staff and we say, okay, this is what we need to do, this is the guy for the next 10-15 years and we think he’s the right guy? Sure, we’ll do it, but who’s to say we won’t get one at four.”

• Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post, citing sources, says the Texans, Colts and Seahawks are among the teams who have checked in with the Bears to see what a trade to No. 1 would cost. 
• All of his sources still expected Alabama QB Bryce Young to be the first pick. La Canfora added the scouting community is buzzing about the Colts being enamored with Kentucky QB Will Levis.
• Ohio State OT Dawand Jones has scheduled seven top 30 visits so far, including with the Colts. (Ryan Fowler)

Jaguars

Jaguars HC Doug Pederson feels that the team’s window is now and continues to praise QB Trevor Lawrence.

“He’s constantly wanting to get better,” Pederson told Jeff Howe of  The Athletic. “He’s constantly wanting to learn. He’s wanting to grow. He puts in the time. That’s what great quarterbacks do in this league, and he’s just getting started.”

Pederson continued to speak about the roster being put together by GM Trent Baalke, free agency, and the team’s hopes of returning to the playoffs to take on teams like the Bengals, Bills, and Chiefs.

“The biggest difference is we hit the mark on all our free agents last year,” Pederson said. “So now, that’s the core of your team. The difference this year is we’re still going to look at free agency. We’re always looking at talent and trying to better our roster, and now we can do it through the draft. Now we can fill the pieces that way. That’s where (general manager) Trent (Baalke) and I really align with the things we’re doing. We both see it the same way. Let’s build our team through the draft. A year ago, we had to do it through free agency. We don’t have to do that this year as much.”

Pederson also acknowledged they are likely going to be giving Lawrence a Brinks truck full of money in a year and a half or so. 

“We know what the future holds,” he continued. “But it’s also been proven in the NFL that you can pay your quarterback and still keep a pretty good roster around your quarterback. It’s been done. We’ve got to be able to look at those models, too. I guess the beauty, too, is we’ve got the majority of our guys in long-term deals, so that will also help us when we get ready to redo Trevor in a year or so. I kind of let Trent and (director of roster management) Trip (MacCracken) handle that and all the powers that be over on that side of the equation. My job is to get our team ready right now with the guys we have. We’ll cross that bridge a year from now.”

“Our window is now, and we understand that,” Pederson concluded. “It might be the next three to five years. We’ve got to make sure we’re just focused on the now, getting Trevor better again this year, taking another step in his progression of leading the football team, and see what happens.”

• NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero notes the going rate for right tackles, good ones at least, is $15-$19 million a year, and Jaguars RT Jawaan Taylor has a chance to come in near the high end of that in free agency.