The Jacksonville Jaguars find themselves on the defensive after ignoring quarterback in the 2017 NFL draft and picking up the fifth-year option on Blake Bortles.
In some ways, criticism makes sense. Why pick up a big option on a quarterback who completed 58.9 percent of his passes last year with 23 touchdowns and 16 interceptions, complemented by miserable pocket awareness and wonky mechanics?
For general manager Dave Caldwell, it’s about the dollar signs, as he told PFT Live:
“I think that slots him as the 16th highest quarterback next year, right around the median,” Caldwell said. “If he was to get the franchise tender that puts him at the third or fourth or fifth ranked quarterback depending on who gets new deals next year.”
“We look at two-year values on our contracts,” Caldwell said. “I think this year he’s scheduled to make about $3.2 million in cash, and then the $19 million next year is just a little over $22 million, it’s a two-year, $11 million average on what is considered a new deal, and that puts him not in the Top 16 of quarterbacks.”
It’s hard to argue with the front office’s view on contracts when put in this light. And if the Jaguars are going to roll with an experimental quarterback for at least another year, it might as well be the 25-year-old Bortles.
This isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement by the Jaguars suggesting they think Bortles can be the franchise guy for a long time. But with the roster improving around him and guys like Tom Coughlin now on board, this is an overall small price to pay on an expensive quarterback market.
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