National Football League

Jaguars commit to QB Blake Bortles by picking up his fifth-year option

Published May. 1, 2017 12:05 p.m. ET

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Dan Graf

The Jacksonville Jaguars never ended up selecting a quarterback in the NFL Draft, so maybe they weren’t as down on incumbent starter Blake Bortles as it seemed.

After an offseason spent avoiding commenting on whether they’d pick up his fifth-year option, the Jaguars did so Monday, two days after the completion of the draft.

https://twitter.com/Jaguars/status/859064832280190981

Jacksonville has a new head of football operations in Tom Coughlin and a new coach in Doug Marrone, so the silent treatment this offseason seemed to indicate that the team was at least considering changing plans at quarterback after a season in which Bortles regressed from 35 touchdown passes and 18 interceptions in 2015 to 23 and 16 in 2016.

The team now has the 25-year-old signed for 2018 at about $18 million.

“This is a smart business decision for the team for several reasons,” Jaguars executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin said in a statement. “It makes sense for us going forward, and it’s good for Blake and for the Jaguars.”

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