With Rogers’ future unsettled, Packers sign Blake Bortles
The Green Bay Packers are signing veteran quarterback Blake Bortles, a source told Packer Central on Wednesday in confirming an NFL Network report.
The Packers had only two quarterbacks under contract: reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers and last year’s first-round pick, Jordan Love. General manager Brian Gutekunst said after the draft the team would have to bring in a third quarterback, regardless of Rodgers’s future. When Gutekunst didn’t sign an undrafted free agent immediately after the draft, it became clear he’d be on the market for a quarterback with experience to join their unsettled depth chart.
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With Rodgers’s future with the team in some doubt, adding a veteran quarterback was the logical move. With 73 career starts and a key connection in Green Bay, Bortles was the choice.
In 2017, when Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett was running a Jacksonville attack that finished fifth in the NFL in scoring, Bortles helped guide the Jaguars to the AFC championship game. It was a breakthrough as the rocket-armed Bortles learned how to play the position.
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Bortles spent the 2019 season with the Los Angeles Rams, going 1-of-2 for 3 yards. He spent most of the 2020 season with Denver Broncos. However he didn’t play, and returned to the Rams for the end of the season as insurance for injured Jared Goff.
The third pick of the 2014 draft, Bortles has thrown for 17,640 yards with 103 touchdowns vs. 75 interceptions, good for a passer rating of 80.6. In 2015, when he threw a career-high 35 touchdown passes, he led the NFL in interceptions but also game-winning drives.
