Jacksonville Jaguars: 6 Possible cap casualties for 2019
By Larry Brake
Blake Bortles, maybe
Blake Bortles has been the most scrutinized quarterback throughout his tenure. Jacksonville drafted him in the first round in 2014. He did not live up to his draft selection.
In his career, he completed 59.3 percent of his passes for 17,646 yards with 103 touchdowns and 75 interceptions. He has remained healthy as the starting quarterback. He has not missed a game due to injury. He has played in 75 of 80 possible games of his career.
Bortles has the propensity to throw to the wrong jersey at the least opportune time. Cody Kessler replaced Bortles for a few games in 2018, but he regained the starting job. All signs appear that Jacksonville will move on from him after signing him to a contract extension.
Bortles played at a lower price tag than what he will earn in 2019. He is scheduled to be a cap hit of $21 million after having a $10 cap hit last season. According to Spotrac, Jacksonville would save $4.5 million but have a dead money hit of $16.5 million. Would Coughlin and Caldwell decide to eat the dead money hit or find someone to make a trade with?
Apparently, the hiring of John DeFilippo is a signal that the Bortles era is over. DeFilippo coached pending free agent Nick Foles in Philadelphia’s Super Bowl run. Could there be a trade for Foles involving either Bortles or Fournette? Or maybe signing Foles outright.
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The Jaguars have to reduce the high salary contracts to get under the cap. Whether they release these players or not, there will be movement on the Jaguars payroll.