Well, that escalated pretty quickly. Fresh off this report from ESPN’s Josina Anderson Saturday evening that the Jacksonville Jaguars were working on an extension with Blake Bortles, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport has more information available.
According to the NFL insider, Bortles and the Jaguars are now finalizing a contract extension.
The #Jaguars and QB Blake Bortles are finalizing a multi-year extension that keeps him in Jacksonville for years to come, sources say. It’s essentially done and should be official tonight.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 25, 2018
Rapoport later noted that it is in fact a two-year extension.
The #Jaguars had QB Blake Bortles under contract on a 5th-year option through 2018. He’s now under contract through 2020.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 25, 2018
The former top-10 pick was set to enter the final year of his rookie contract with a cap hit of $19-plus million for the 2018 campaign. It’s not yet known whether that figure will change once an extension is officially signed.
Bortles, 25, is coming off the best season of an otherwise largely unassuming career. In 16 starts, he completed 60 percent of his passes for 3,687 yards with 21 touchdowns and 13 interceptions en route to leading Jacksonville to the AFC South title. He also helped the Jaguars earn a trip to the conference championship before losing a close contest to the New England Patriots.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter notes that the contract is worth $54 million over three seasons. Bortles can earn a total of $66.5 million during that span should he meet certain incentives.
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.
Jacksonville out of QB market.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 25, 2018
That’s a pretty big extension for a quarterback that had struggled leaps and bounds prior to last season. But the market dictates quarterback value in today’s NFL. And the demand surely is there for a young quarterback with some tremendous upside.