Jaguars aren't giving up on QB Blake Bortles yet, exercise fifth-year option
The most desperate moves in last week’s NFL draft involved quarterbacks. In many ways it’s like teams have two mindsets: A rational one for 52 spots on the roster, and then they freak out when it comes to starting quarterback, especially if they don’t have a good one.
So should anyone be surprised that the Jacksonville Jaguars picked up the fifth-year option on quarterback Blake Bortles? That’ll cost about $18 million, though is only guaranteed for injury.
“This is a smart business decision for the team for several reasons,” Jaguars executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin said in a statement. “It makes sense for us going forward and it’s good for Blake and for the Jaguars.”
Bortles took a major step back in 2016, though his 2015 wasn’t great either. He threw for 4,428 yards and 35 touchdowns in 2015, but an amazing majority of that production came when the Jaguars were getting blown out. Last season Bortles had 3,905 yards and 23 touchdowns, a poor season considering he had a very talented receiving corps. Bortles has 51 interceptions in 46 career games.
But what else were the Jaguars going to do? They picked Bortles third overall in 2014. They didn’t draft a quarterback last week. Their best option now is to pick up the option and hope that Bortles doesn’t get hurt and they can push off the ultimate decision on Bortles for a year. Picking up his option is not that risky. But you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who believes right now that Bortles in the Jaguars’ answer at quarterback.
The Jaguars get another year to evaluate Bortles (not like they have another choice) and see what 2018 brings. Nobody would dream to even consider paying $18 million over one season for a player with a resume comparable to Bortles at any other position. But Bortles is a quarterback, and the Jaguars aren’t going to find it easy to move on.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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