Contract shows Jags committed to Bortles.
Blake Bortles is getting paid. This is a great thing for a deserving young man. The Jacksonville Jaguars are a bunch of nitwits.
Hop on one side of the fence and banter away folks. Plenty of room on both sides on the contentious internet thingy.
Scream away all you want, but one thing is certain: The Jaguars are committed to Bortles bigtime after signing him to a $54 million deal that could escalate up to $66.5 million with incentives. The deal also includes about $26.5 million in guaranteed money.
The new contract announced Saturday completes one of the best comeback stories in recent NFL seasons. Just a few months ago during the exhibition test drives, Bortles was sharing reps
with journeyman lifer Chad Henne, the convenient Band-Aid when your starting quarterback stinks.
“I’m looking for someone who is going to lead this offense,” Jaguars coach Doug Marrone said back in August after Bortles played badly against the Tampa Bay Bucs. “I’m not happy with the performance. I’m not going to sit here and b.s. anyone.”
Fast-forward to late February:
“First off, I want to say congratulations to Blake and his family,” Marrone said after giving Bortles the vote of confidence that comes with a big check. So what happened? Bortles has proven he can rise up above his “game-manager” role and throw the rock around a little bit. And chances are the Jaguars would have defeated the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game if offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett had not gone into a conservative cocoon with a second-half lead.
So kudos to the kid from UCF who was the third pick in the NFL Draft in 2014.
Color me surprised, kinda.
I figured the Jags would essentially take a one-year flyer on Bortles, kicking the can on his potential to become the team’s franchise quarterback by paying him the $19.1 million he was due if he was still on the roster on March 14 (the first day of the 2018 NFL calendar year).
Instead, the Jags tripled down on Bortles, immediately ending the speculation about Kirk Cousins, Eli Manning or any other NFL QB coming to Jacksonville.
Bortles played well during the Jags’ three playoff games, with three touchdowns and no interceptions. That piggybacked on a sharp month of December, when he threw seven touchdowns and no interceptions during a three-game winning streak. Bortles’ 60.2 completion percentage was a career-high.
And he didn’t have his top receiver, Allen Robinson, who played less than one game before suffering an ACL injury.
But most importantly, Bortles won the respect of his teammates. Almost to a man, they stood up for him when the Computer Courage Crowd was peppering him with sniper fire on the internet.
These things matter, and obviously stuck with wise souls like Tom Coughlin, executive vice president of football operations, and Marrone.
They know a lot more about football than you and me and every guy on the internet screaming at their computer that Bortles isn’t worth the risk.
So sorry to the folks who sarcastically tag Bortles with #goatles on the internet or post memes of crying Michael Jordan reacting to the news.
“It is a dream come true,” Bortles said Saturday. “I said earlier, my goal from the start – everyone dreams of making $100 million or the quarterbacks are expected to sign the big deal and that was never something that was very important to me.
“Signing this second deal with the team that drafted me was my goal from the beginning. It has been done, and I am excited and thrilled and proud of myself for being able to do that. There is obviously a lot of work and things that need to go on.”
Blake Bortles, the prince of perseverance, and the king of comebacks, just got paid.