The Jacksonville Jaguars made headlines with the signing of former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles. As a result, it appears the Blake Bortles era in Jacksonville has come to an end.
The Jaguars are expected to sign Foles to a four-year, $88 million deal this offseason. According to NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport, they plan on releasing Bortles when they do:
The Jaguars are expected to release QB Blake Bortles when QB Nick Foles’ deal is official and signed, I’m told. Will be a few days. But Bortles will be free.
The move should hardly come as any surprise. Bortles has had ample opportunities to establish himself as the franchise quarterback moving forward. However, his time has finally run out and he is now headed for free agency.
Bortles has certainly gone through his fair share of ups and downs thus far in his career.
The Jaguars made quite the investment when they selected him with the third overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. He endured a rough rookie campaign before following it up with a spectacular 2015 season that saw him throw for over 4,000 yards and 35 touchdowns.
Although he has since been unable to mirror that type of production, the Jaguars thought he had finally broken through as a legitimate starting quarterback when they signed him to a three-year extension prior to last season. However, it only took another disastrous season for Jacksonville to finally end the Bortles experiment.
They are now hoping that Foles pedigree as a championship quarterback will help lead the team back to playoff relevancy.
