There was plenty of speculation out in the NFL sphere concerning the Jacksonville Jaguars and their quarterback plans this off-season. Saturday night, they solved that mystery for good, announcing they had reached an agreement on a three-year extension with Blake Bortles that will keep him signed through the 2020 season.
The new addendum will pay Bortles $54 million, but could pay as much as $66.5 million with incentives. The Jags have ponied up $26 .5 million in guaranteed cash in the new deal. He was set to make $19.053 million guaranteed in 2018 after Jacksonville picked up his fifth-year option.
The #Jaguars and QB Blake Bortles are finalizing a multi-year extension that keeps him in Jacksonville for years to come, sources say. It’s essentially done and should be official tonight.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 25, 2018
The extension means that the Jaguars will not be pursuing Kirk Cousins or any other starting QB in free agency, nor will they try to work a trade with the New York Giants for Eli Manning.
Last season Bortles helped Jacksonville make it all the way to the AFC Championship game. He went 2-1 in the playoffs and completed a career-high 60.2 percent of his passes for 3,687 yards, 21 touchdowns and a career-low 13 interceptions.
First off, let’s look at the positives for the deal as far as the Jaguars are concerned. They were already on the hook to pay the fifth-year QB over $19 million next season so the $26.5 million guaranteed isn’t much of a jump. While I’ve always been a firm believer that QBs are tossed away too soon in this league, I saw the Jaguars as a team primed to make a run with a better quarterback. I also thought Bortles would be better off resuming his career on another team. Neither he, nor the Jaguars agreed.
It's official 🖊️
@BBortles5 signs a contract extension that runs through the 2020 season.
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) February 25, 2018
The contract also lowers Bortles 2018 salary cap hit by more than a million bucks. He’ll make an average of $18 million before any incentives kick in and those bonuses will roll over onto the next season, presumably. And if Bortles hits those marks, the Jags won’t have any complaints about paying them.
While it does keep the Jags from going after a quarterback in the free agent market, it won’t keep them from drafting a guy if one they really like falls into their lap. They pick at No. 29 in the first round and No. 61 in the second. I’ve seen mocks where Mason Rudolph falls to that second-round pick. Stranger things have happened.
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