Jacksonville Jaguars: Blake Bortles not going anywhere in 2019

Expect the Jacksonville Jaguars to bring back Blake Bortles for the 2019 season as his contract is far too pricey for them to eat.

There’s an old saying that goes something like this: the third time’s the charm. Blake Bortles will be the Jacksonville Jaguars starting quarterback in the season finale against the Houston Texans. He replaces Cody Kessler, who replaced him twice this season. Third time’s the charm, right?

Head coach Doug Marrone explained the switch back to Bortles. Marrone said that Bortles gives Jacksonville the best chance to win. At this point of the season, though, does it really matter?

Since Bortles became the Jaguars quarterback in 2014, he has struggled. Most of all, his propensity to throw ill-advised passes have resulted in interceptions far too often. After four seasons of inconsistent play, Bortles was rewarded with a contract extension.

In 2018, Bortles’ salary cap numbers are very team friendly. However, in 2019, his cap numbers are very costly. In fact, Jacksonville will have to shed salaries to get under the NFL salary cap.

According to Spotrac, Bortles’ contract accounts for 4.88 percent of the teams cap number in 2018. Next season, that number becomes 10.77 percent of the cap and, moreover, cutting him would leave $16.5 million in dead cap (per Over The Cap). In 2020, the final year of his contract, the percentage clips to 12.17 of the cap, but would cost just $5 million in dead cap while saving $18 million.

Suppose the Jaguars released Bortles this offseason. Jacksonville would be on the hook for $16.5 million in dead cap money against the Jaguars salary cap total.

Jacksonville will probably keep Bortles and perhaps even allow him to continue as the starting quarterback if they draft a player in need of development. It will be much cheaper to keep him especially since there will not be any chance of trading away his contract along with him. Bortles will be the starting quarterback for the Jaguars in 2019.