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The Jacksonville Jaguars have signed quarterback Blake Bortles to a contract extension through 2020, according to a report by The Florida Times-Union. This new deal rips up the one-year, $19 million guaranteed deal that he was scheduled to play under with the fifth-year option that the Jaguars were likely going to exercise at the start of the league year on March 14.
The #Jaguars addressed one of their biggest off-season question marks on Saturday, announcing they have signed quarterback Blake Bortles to a contract extension through 2020. https://t.co/hKp9SP07rk
— Florida Times-Union (@jaxdotcom) February 25, 2018
Jaguars are giving QB Blake Bortles a new three-year, $54 million deal, worth up to $66.5M with incentives, that includes $26.5M guaranteed, tying him to Jacksonville through the 2020 season, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 25, 2018
Jacksonville out of QB market.
Jaguars owner Shad Khan recently extended head coach Doug Marrone, general manager Dave Caldwell and executive VP of football Tom Coughlin through 2021, so it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that Bortles is sticking around with the team. What a new deal does however, while we don’t know the breakdown just yet, is drop Bortles big cap figure down to a more manageable level.
The Jaguars still need to re-sign wide receiver Allen Robinson, and a move like this makes using the franchise tag on Robinson much easier to absorb without having to play around with some of the cap figures. It will also give the Jaguars wiggle room in free agency to upgrade their offensive line and possibly the tight end position.