There are always plenty of veteran quarterbacks picked up by NFL teams after injuries, so just because someone isn’t on a roster doesn’t mean they’re out of the league for good. In the case of 30-year-old pivot Blake Bortles, though, his absence from the league so far this year has now turned into a retirement.
Following a strong college career with the UCF Knights (including a January 2014 Fiesta Bowl win against the Baylor Bears), Bortles was the third-overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft. He was the first of 14 quarterbacks drafted that year, chosen ahead of Johnny Manziel (22nd overall), Teddy Bridgewater (32nd overall), Derek Carr (36th overall), Jimmy Garoppolo (62nd overall), and more. Bortles played for the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2014-18, and helped lead them to the playoffs and two postseason wins in the 2017 season, but lost his starting job to Cody Kessler partway through the 2018 season.
Bortles then spent 2019 as a season-long backup for the Los Angeles Rams, then had stints with the Denver Broncos and Rams again in 2020, and then spent time with the Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints last year. But he asked to be released from his reserve/future contract with the Saints on April 5 after they signed Andy Dalton, and didn’t land with another team. And he announced on Barstool Sports’ Pardon My Take podcast this week that he’s now retired from the NFL:
After eight seasons in the National Football League, quarterback Blake Bortles has decided to retire. The announcement came on the most recent episode of the “Pardon My Take” podcast, during the show’s “One Question With A Quarterback” segment.
“I have not touched a football since January,” said Bortles, who was asked about potentially signing with a team this season if given the opportunity. “I have officially retired.”
The former first round pick actually made the decision to step away from football a while ago, but did not tell anybody until it was announced on the podcast.
“I didn’t tell anybody I retired,” the two-time Blake of the Year Winner said. “A couple of months ago, probably, just didn’t tell anyone. So, I guess you guys are kind of the first to hear it publicly, maybe?”
Bortles did go on to say he might come back if he was offered a giant contract, though, such as $15 million over two years. “Absolutely. Two [years] for $15 million? I would be there in a heartbeat.” So we’ll see if that ever comes to pass. If this is in fact it for him, though, we’ll always have that 2017 Jaguars’ run, and Jason Mendoza (Manny Jacinto)’s uncompromising love of him on The Good Place.
Jason made it back. Duval Til We Die and forever.#DTWD @nbcthegoodplace pic.twitter.com/zIsOfJcqAY
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) January 7, 2018
We wish Bortles all the best with whatever is ahead for him.
[Barstool Sports; top photo of Bortles in 2018 from Douglas DeFelice/USA Today Sports]
