Jacksonville Jaguars: Extension puts their faith in Blake Bortles
Any speculation that the Jacksonville Jaguars would soon be moving on from Blake Bortles ended with a new deal for the much-maligned quarterback.
After reaching the playoffs this past season for the first time since 2007 and winning a division title for the first time this century, the Jacksonville Jaguars apparently feel that they are headed in the right direction. On Saturday, they took yet another step to increase the stability of the franchise’s current regime.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that the defending AFC South champions had re-upped with quarterback Blake Bortles via a new three-year deal.
Via Rapoport, the new contract adds up to $54 million ($26.5 guaranteed). Colleague Tom Pelissero reports that if the 2014 first-round pick reaches all of the deal’s incentives and escalators, it could be worth a hefty $66.5 million. Bortles entered 2018 prepared to play on the terms of his fifth-year option but now he is under wraps until 2020.
The 25-year-old pro, speaking via conference call, appeared more than satisfied with the new contract.
"I don’t have a whole lot of knowledge how any of this stuff works and doing all this I told Ryan (Tollner), my agent, I was like, ‘man, let’s just get it done so I can just go play football. I really would love to know and have confirmation that this is where I’m going to be, and now let’s go to work and continue to build on what we did last year and go play.’ So happy and relieved and obviously extremely excited. It’s a dream come true to be able to sign a second contract by the team that drafted me. That was one of my goals from the start. It’s exciting to get it all done and get rolling now."
The news comes one day after the Jaguars announced that executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin, general manager Dave Caldwell and head coach Doug Marrone all signed extensions to remain with the team through 2021.
"“Blake’s growth and development last season was a key to the success we had as a team, explained Coughlin in a team statement (courtesy of NFL.com’s Nick Shook). “Blake has proven, with toughness and dependability, that he can be the leader this team needs going forward. Along with this contract come high expectations that he will continue to improve and help our team accomplish its ultimate goal.”"
The often-criticized quarterback was much-improved in terms of efficiency in 2017. He completed a career-best 60.2 percent of his passes during the regular season. In 19 total games, including three postseason contests, he led a club that did not commit a turnover in the playoff clashes with the Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots.
Next: 2018 NFL Mock Draft: One unexpected pick for each team
After coughing up the football a combined 45 times in 32 games the previous two seasons (2015-16), Bortles threw just 13 interceptions and lost only three fumbles in 19 outings this past year. All told, 16 turnovers added up to three and 54…and possibly more. All told, the Jacksonville Jaguars are laying quite the foundation.