(04-25-2018, 07:09 AM)dennisp3 Wrote: Blake's quarterback rating among qb last year was 12th.  Not bad and I  think anyone would have been fine it they were told last year he would be 12th among QB's. So that is why he was rewarded with a new contract.

He was rewarded with an extra $7.5 million in guaranteed money.  In exchange the team got an option on him for years 2 and 3 of the deal.  It's not a deal to hang your hat on if you're sold on Bortles as your long term QB.  

Coupled with the basically free look on Kessler during the pre-season and I'd say the writing is on the wall that QB is on the radar high in the draft this year.  You can't control how the 28 picks in front of you go though or whether you can find a willing trade partner for appropriate compensation if you decide to move up so the team made smart business moves in the event that it doesn't unfold how they'd want.

Forget what coaches say about a player.  They're rarely going to throw a guy under the bus unless their job is being threatened by the player's performance and Marrone isn't going anywhere for a while after last season.  The contract tells you everything you need to know about what the team thinks.  I hope we go QB high in the draft.  I don't care if it pushes Blake to take the next step and cement himself as the long term starter or if the rookie eventually unseats him in a year, but the QB play needs to be better than it was on the whole last year.  If Blake carries over his Steelers/Patriots performances from the end of last year we're probably in good shape though.

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