Each NFL team’s worst contract on the books entering 2019
By Brad Weiss
Jacksonville Jaguars: Blake Bortles
During the 2017 NFL season, the Jacksonville Jaguars made it all the way to the AFC Championship Game. They even held a 10-point lead on the New England Patriots heading into the fourth quarter. The Jaguars, obviously, were not able to hold onto that lead. It has really been downhill ever since.
After that 2017 campaign, the organization made a long-term commitment to Blake Bortles, in the hopes that he would round into the kind of franchise quarterback you can build around.
Unfortunately, Bortles took a major step backwards in 2018. Bortles was benched in favor of his backup Cody Kessler late in the season, likely ending his run as the starter in Jacksonville.
The Jaguars invested a lot of money in Bortles last offseason, signing him to a 3-year, $54 million dollar contract that included over $26 million in guaranteed money. He will be the hardest cap hit for the Jaguars in 2019 by far. His number is $21 million, which is more than 10 percent of their total salary cap this season.
Bortles is not a franchise quarterback, and the team could go up and draft either Kyler Murray or Dwayne Haskins early in the first round in April. The dead cap number for Bortles is $16.5 million in 2019, so moving him is not an option. The team will likely have to wait out this contract for at least another season.