As the Jacksonville Jaguars get ready to move on from Blake Bortles, the market to replace him is thin for solid, bankable options.
Five seasons in, the Jacksonville Jaguars are ready to give on the idea Blake Bortles can be a franchise quarterback. Parting ways with him is a formality, with only how the cap hit will be split as a pre-or post-June 1 cut to be determined.
Jacksonville may take a quarterback with the seventh overall pick in April’s draft, and Nick Foles is widely considered their top quarterback target in free agency. A tie to new offensive coordinator John DeFilippo, who was the Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterbacks coach for Foles’ run to Super Bowl LII MVP, makes it a fit for both sides.
The Jaguars may also be interested in Teddy Bridgewater, who will surely come cheaper than Foles and is younger. But according to Pro Football Talk, there’s “noticeable buzz” in league circles that Ryan Tannehill may wind up in Jacksonville.
The Miami Dolphins are trying to trade Tannehill, but his $26.6 cap number for this year makes it far more likely he’ll be cut with virtually equal dead money ($13.42 million) and cap space implications ($13.18 million) for the Dolphins.
Tannehill showed some promise at times with Miami, but he has missed 24 of 49 games (including playoffs) over the last three seasons and as the franchise resets under a new head coach he’s not a fit anymore. He may be able to compete for a starting job somewhere, but the shine of his being a former top-10 pick will be left way behind in South Beach.
Four quarterbacks went in the first 10 picks of last year’s draft, and this year there might be three or four among a group that isn’t as good. So that’s a disadvantage for the Jaguars, and for all his flaws there’s no one even on the level of Kirk Cousins in this year’s free agent class.
Foles is arguably the top free agent signal caller for this year, with fewer question marks than someone like Bridgewater or Tannehill. Joe Flacco and Case Keenum would have been options, but they will be spoken for in trades when the new league year starts.
It’s not a great offseason to be completely resetting under center, especially for a team like the Jaguars with a level of expectation to win in 2019.