Blake Bortles Would “Love” To Be With Jaguars Long Term

Jaguars QB Blake Bortles said Monday that he would “love” to be back in Jacksonville and continue his career with the team.

“I’ve enjoyed my four years in Jacksonville and I would love to play here for as long as they let me,” Bortles said, via the Florida Times-Union. “What they decide and all of the decisions they make are outside of my control.

“I would be thrilled to be able to stay here and play here. Hopefully that can happen.”

Jaguars HC Doug Marrone deflected questions about Bortles being the team’s quarterback after Sunday’s loss to the Patriots.

“I would really have to take a step back and look at it,” Marrone said. “I don’t think I’m in the best mindset to talk about any of our players from that standpoint. … Now it’s a matter of taking a step back and giving myself some time and looking at things as a whole.”

Bortles and the Jaguars’ quarterback decision figures to be one of the more interesting storylines to watch, considering he did improve this past season. However, he’s owed a large salary and there are still some questions about whether he can be their franchise quarterback long term.

Bortles, 25, was taken with the No. 3 overall pick by the Jaguars back in 2014. He’s currently in the final year of his four-year, $20,654,796 rookie contract and stands to make a base salary of $3,236,565 for the 2017 season.

The Jaguars picked up his fifth-year option and will run them around $19,053,000 for the 2018 season. After that, Bortles will be a free agent in 2019.

In 2017, Bortles appeared in 16 games for the Jaguars and threw for 3,687 yards while completing 60.2 percent of his passes to go along with 21 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He also rushed for 322 yards and two scores. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 18 quarterback out of 39 qualifying players.

We’ll have more regarding Bortles’ future with the Jaguars as the news is available.