Green Bay Packers
GREEN BAY, WI (WSAU) — The Green Bay Packers have signed a third quarterback to their roster, inking veteran Blake Bortles to a one-year deal on Wednesday.
The former Jacksonville Jaguars first-round pick joins Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love in Green Bay just in time for offseason workouts, while also reuniting with one of his former coaches.
Packers OC Nathaniel Hackett was Bortles’ QB coach during much of his time in Jacksonville, including the 2017 season in which the Jags finished 10-6 and made it to the AFC Championship game before falling to New England.
Despite that run Bortle’s tenure in Duval is mostly remembered as underwhelming. The former Central Florida QB was turnover-prone and inaccurate. The fact that the Jaguars were most often playing from behind only magnified those mistakes in the passing game.
Even during the run to the 2018 AFC Championship game, Bortles was known as a “game manager” thanks to the Jaguars defense and RB Leonard Fournette’s production in the ground game. The team did pick up his fifth-year option, but he was released in 2019.
He spent the last two seasons as a backup for the Los Angeles Rams and Denver Broncos.
Bortles was the #3 pick by the Jaguars in the 2014 NFL Draft out of Central Florida. With his signing, the Packers now have three first-round QB’s on their roster.
The team did not provide any details about where Bortles will be placed on the depth chart. Last year’s second-stringer Tim Boyle is no longer on the team after signing with the Detroit Lions.
The news came just hours before the formal release of the full NFL preseason and regular-season schedule.
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