With former Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles being released this month, many fans held on to the hope that the offset language in his contract would help the team recover some cap space if he signed elsewhere, but that unfortunately won’t happen. Per Field Yates of ESPN, Bortles’ one-year deal with the Los Angeles Rams was only for $1 million, which also is the amount the Jags will be credited with in terms of their cap space.
Additionally, the Jags will be on the hook for $6.5 million in owed guarantees to Bortles in 2019, which probably explains why the veteran took such an affordable deal on the season.
Bortles, who was drafted in 2014 to be the Jags’ franchise quarterback, spent five seasons with the team and started in a total of 73 games. In 2017 he was able to put together his best season and aid the Jags to the AFC Championship, which then gave the front office the confidence to sign him to a three-year extension worth $54 million. However, it appears that Tom Coughlin and company didn’t account for how sporadic the veteran was prior and during the season of 2017, and they now have to deal with the repercussions.
If there is one positive to take from the situation it’s that a change of scenery may just help Bortles as he’ll be learning from Sean McVay and his elite offensive coaching staff in 2019. That could lead to him once again becoming a starter elsewhere in 2020 being that he’s a young player with plenty of time to revitalize his career.
