I would not call the contract a place-holder one, but rather a contract very attractive in terms of trade. A team trading for Bortles will see the cost up front. They won't have to negotiate anything anew.

How about Bortles to the Arizona Cardinals for a first round pick and Larry Fitzgerald?

How about Bortles to the Minnesota Vikings for a first round pick straight up?

I'd add a trade to the Denver Broncos for their first round pick, but I am not sure if John Elway is confident he can live with Bortles' style of play. John will like Blake's size. He will like Blake's mobility. He will like Blake's demeanor. He will not like Bortles' arm strength. What Elway will like is the tightly controlled way the Jaguars used Bortles during the playoff run. 

The problem is this is NOT the way Bortles wants to play football. When Blake took the ball in his hands with 2:48 left in the AFC title game, there was plenty of time. Instead the sense of urgency was somehow amplified when there was no need to panic.

There is no reason to trust what David Caldwell says. Caldwell drafted Blake Bortles pledging to not throw him to the wolves. 

I'm still sold on bringing in A. J. McCarron and giving him a crack at earning the starting QB job over Bortles outright. We can draft a QB to park on the bench. We can package picks and move up for Josh Allen, if you please.

However, McCarron was not allowed to compete for the starting QB in Cincy. There's a big difference between that and the accusations that A. J. couldn't beat Andy Dalton out.

The sample size on McCarron is therefore very limited. BUT what DID he do?

A. J. McCarron took over the Bengals' starting QB job after Andy Dalton threw a pick and injured his thumb as he tried to make the tackle. McCarron came in OFF THE BENCH. He was 22 of 32 passes for 280 yards. Two TD passes and two picks. One of the two TD tosses was a 66-yard laser to A. J. Green that traveled what must have been over forty yards - hitting Green in stride.

The AFC North was NOT clinched when A. J. stepped in. McCarron calmly went about his business finishing the Cincinnati season 2-1 with the division-clinching victory added to his resume. The loss was an over-time loss to eventual Super Bowl champions, the Denver Broncos. 

The last evidence there is on McCarron was the Wild Card game. McCarron handled the game well yet posted a goose egg in the first, second and third quarters. McCarron didn't give up. He rallied the Bengals in the fourth quarter to score 16 points...enough points to win his first playoff game.

However, two of Marvin Lewis' defensive thugs made bone-headed plays drawing two personal fouls allowing the Steelers to kick a game-winning FG.

So bring in McCarron. You really have to.

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