Jaguars' Blake Bortles: Fifth-year option could be declined

The Jaguars may not pick up the fifth-year option on Bortles' rookie contract, The Florida Times-Union reports.

Analysis:

After taking a big step back from his breakout 2015 campaign last season, Bortles is essentially preparing for a make-or-break year in 2017, the final year of his rookie contract. As a top-10 selection -- No. 3 overall in 2014 -- Bortles would have a fifth-year option equal to the average of the 10 highest-paid players at his position. The figure likely would fall somewhere in the range of $20-25 million, which is a lot to pay for a quarterback who completed only 58.9 percent of his passes for 6.3 yards per attempt last season. The Jaguars don't need to decide on the option until shortly after the draft, and even if they decline it and Bortles then enjoys a strong season, the team can use its franchise tag to prevent him from signing elsewhere next offseason. The franchise tag would be similar to the fifth-year option in terms of salary, but using the tag on Bortles would prevent the Jaguars from applying it to another player from their impressive 2014 draft class -- a group that includes WRs Allen Robinson and Marquise Lee, LB Telvin Smith and CB Aaron Colvin.