Broncos Re-Signing QB Blake Bortles to Practice Squad Days After Cutting Him, per Report
Only two days ago, on Saturday, the Denver Broncos released veteran quarterback Blake Bortles. Fast forward to Monday and Bortles is back in the Orange and Blue, only this time, in a slightly different capacity.
Bortles' return to the Broncos was broken by KOARadio's Benjamin Allbright and has since been confirmed by others.
"Per source: the Blake Bortles era not over in Denver. Bortles has impressed in the QB room, is being signed back to the practice squad," Allbright tweeted on Monday morning.
With how young the Broncos are at quarterback, it's good to have Bortles around. Not just as a fail-safe's fail-safe but as a mentor and almost a coach-on-the-field for second-year QBs like Drew Lock and Brett Rypien.
Jeff Driskel, originally meant to be the 'veteran' backup to Lock, has been in the league since 2016 but he's only started 10 games. Meanwhile, Lock is coming off just his eighth NFL start, leading the Broncos to an odds-defying 18-12 victory over the New England Patriots.
Rypien? One NFL start. Bortles? He's started 73 games since arriving in the NFL as the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 draft with Jacksonville. As a starter, Bortles has compiled a 24-49 record.
His crowning achievement was helping to lead the Jaguars to an AFC Championship appearance in 2017 — a game in which Jacksonville got up early on the Patriots, only to allow Tom Brady to storm back and steal the win at Foxborough. Brady would be foiled in the Super Bowl by Nick Foles and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Bortles' best statistical season came in his second year where he threw for 4,428 yards and a 35-to-18 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Statistically speaking, it was all downhill from there.
Bortles did just enough to keep the Jags' offense on-track in 2017 with that smothering and prolific defense doing all the heavy lifting. As a former top-3 pick, it's impossible to view Bortles as anything other than a bust for Jacksonville.
But he's a competent NFL QB and as a veteran backup to a trio of young, inexperienced guys, the Broncos could honestly do a lot worse. If Denver had to turn to a backup besides Rypien, I'd be much more amenable to the idea of Bortles taking over than Driskel.
Let's face it; if Driskel's $2.5 million salary this year wasn't fully guaranteed, the Broncos wouldn't be trifling with him in all likelihood, after how badly he botched his starting opportunity in Week 3, which saw him get benched in the fourth quarter for the completely untested Rypien.
Thank the Football Gods that Rypien came up big in his first and only career start in Week 4. I shudder to think how that game would have unfolded if the pocket-oblivious Driskel was under center.
Just be glad Lock is back in the lineup. All things are possible for the Broncos now that the team has its dynamic young QB under center, like knocking off the nine-point favorite Patriots at Foxborough and becoming the youngest QB to ever win in Gillette Stadium. As in, all-time.
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.
