One offseason move each NFL team must make

Jacksonville Jaguars-Cut Blake Bortles

Just because it’s blatantly obvious doesn’t make it any less true. Being benched in favor of Cody Kessler was surely the last straw for Bortles in Jacksonville, though he did get the starting job back for a meaningless Week 17 game.

The Jaguars may somehow be able to find a team willing to trade for Bortles, in a thin market for quarterbacks this offseason. But it’s more likely they’ll just cut him, and the best path on that front is designating him as a post-June 1 cut to spread $16.5 million in dead money over the next two years. A subsequent run at someone like Joe Flacco, Nick Foles or Teddy Bridgewater seems like the obvious follow-up, perhaps along with drafting a quarterback No.7 overall in April’s draft.

The move to part ways with Bortles should have come a year ago for the Jaguars, before they gave him an ill-advised contract extension. Now there’s a financial consequence to pay, but it’s not so bad to prevent the first step in the move to reset under center.

It’ll be interesting to consider where Bortles will continue his career, as a backup for sure or perhaps even being left to compete for a roster spot. Or there are some other football leagues coming, like the AAF and XFL.