Jacksonville Jaguars decided to secure their quarterback position early. Although Blake Bortles had a one year deal left on his contract, the Jags signed him to a 3-year, $54 million deal on Saturday. According to ESPN‘s Adam Schefter, $26.5 million is guaranteed, while the deal could end up being worth up to $66.5 million. After Jaguars picked up his fifth-year option in May 2017, Bortles supposed to earn around $19 million in 2018.
In case you missed it last night, @BBortles5 signed a contract extension that runs through the 2020 season.
— #DUUUVAL (@Jaguars) February 25, 2018
“I told Ryan [Tollner], my agent, let’s just get it done so I can just go play football. I really would love to just know and have confirmation that this is where I’m going to be, and now let’s go work and continue to build on what we did last year and go play,” – said Bortles after inking the deal. “So, happy and relieved. 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, so excited to get it all done and get rolling now.“
Although Blake Bortles didn’t have the best start to the 2017 season, he picked himself up and ended throwing for 3,687 yards and managing 21 touchdowns. He also had a passer rating higher than 60.0 for the first time in his career with 60.2.
“Blake’s growth and development last season was a key to the success we had as a team,” – said the Jags executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin. “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.“
