4:36pm: No visit will be necessary. The Packers have reached an agreement with the seven-year veteran quarterback, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. It’s a one-year deal (Twitter links).
Bortles and Hackett will reunite with the Packers amid some QB turbulence. Rodgers is seeking a Green Bay exit, and Bortles does bring substantial experience as a starter. He has started 73 of the 78 games he has played. In addition to working with Hackett previously, Bortles has experience in the offense Matt LaFleur uses, having spent 2019 and some of 2020 with Sean McVay in L.A.
4:21pm: Jordan Love is the only Packers quarterback expected to take part in voluntary on-field workouts, which the team will begin next week. As it stands, the 2020 first-round pick is set to be the only Green Bay QB at minicamp as well.
This has led the team to show interest in free agent passers. Blake Bortles is now on the team’s radar, with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Silverstein noting (via Twitter) the Packers are pursuing the former Jaguars starter. A visit is likely. The Packers are set to meet with Chad Kelly and former Falcons backup Kurt Benkert, but Bortles obviously has far more experience.
Bortles spent last season with the Broncos and Rams. Despite Denver’s historic issues at quarterback, the five-year Jacksonville starter did not see action in 2020. He threw two passes in 2019, working as Jared Goff‘s backup in Los Angeles.
The former No. 3 overall pick would be a natural fit in Green Bay. Current Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett worked as Bortles’ Jags OC for nearly four years. After taking over the starting job early in his rookie season, Bortles held it until the 2018 season. The Jags were on the doorstep of Super Bowl LII with Bortles, though their talented defense played a notable role in the team reaching that point, but the quarterback’s subsequent extension quickly backfired. Jacksonville ate considerable dead money to cut Bortles in 2019.
Even if Bortles signs, the Packers are likely to add a UDFA, Silverstein adds (on Twitter). The rookie passer would profile as a camp arm behind Love and whichever veteran the team signs. With Aaron Rodgers still at odds with his team of 16 years, the Packers are in an unusual place at quarterback. They opted not to bring back multiyear backup Tim Boyle, bumping Love up to their QB2 role. Should Rodgers stick to his guns, Love may be summoned to action sooner than the team expected. Bortles or another veteran would be needed in this case.
Please get Rodgers back!
I’m not pro/agro Pack dude, but can you imagine them going from Farve to Rodgers to…..Bortles or Love? That’s a drop!
Love has terrible awareness and a dead arm, I’m surprised he’s even being hyped as a starting QB. Bortles is Bortles.
I’ve never seen any reports that have verified that Love has a “dead arm”, care to cite your sources?
For real, I thought arm strength was viewed as a positive for Love.
“Dead arm” meaning he’s terrible, can’t throw on the run, misses downfield, throws behind crossing receivers. Reminds me of Brett Hundley or Josh Rosen. Source: watching him at Utah, GB, etc
Watching him at GB? When, exactly?
Winonarider –
Dude you’re embarrassing yourself and clearly have no clue. Nice sources…I’m sure you’re an expert scout. Especially while watching him at Green Bay (what??)
I agree on the awful awareness..but he doesn’t have a dead arm…unless that’s a recent development but I can’t imagine how that could be happened between his college days and now.
Might be part of the plan. You know the next guy won’t be as good, so here’s Bortles while we reset the cap for 2022. Two birds with one stone.
This seems to hint that either Rodgers or Love is being traded. The only way the packers carry all 3 on the roster is if they still don’t think Love is anywhere close to being ready
I think for now it’s an insurance policy….no harm in carrying 3 QBs if they somehow convince ARod to come back.
Especially at Rodgers current salary.
Probably true, then they threw away a HoF QB and wasted 2 drafts.
Well, it was said recently that Love ‘has a long way to go’ so maybe it means Love gas a long way to go, and will be holding a clipboard or tablet in street clothes again this season.
Not really. The Packers carried three QBs last year and chose not to re-sign Tim Boyle – who thus needed to be replaced.
Bye bye Rodgers
Bye bye Rodgers because they signed a guy who has thrown two whole passes in the past two seasons?
I think he’s joking
I think he is trolling
Packers signed the best QB available right now. Why cause there star QB has publicly said he wants out.
They have Jordan Love who was their first round pick a year back but he might not be ready to take them to the playoffs.
With no other QB to rely on outside Love, who is a compete mystery, they went and got someone who can compete and be a back up to Love.
Why else sign Bortles?
Idiots: what’s wrong with having a good third choice QB?
……
And regardless, even if Rodgers stays, they need an insurance policy for camp and the preseason. Rodgers may be a no show before the regular season.
Finally!!! Now Rodgers can go and take his childlike antics to jeopardy.
I’d be shocked if Jeopardy chose him after the way he has behaved recently. He spent 15 years building a legacy and destroyed it all in month. No matter what happens from here on out, this is what people will remember. Just like Favre…to this day “I’m going to retire” is the first thing people thing about when his name is mentioned. Rodgers has done irreparable damage to his reputation
Well, in all fairness, not that I am a Rodgers fan, I am not, and not saying that it isn’t necessarily true, but, are there any confirmed facts to support that Rodgers has publicly stated any of the things that are being reported? Or is this just another case of media sensationalizing all of what is going on, and blowing it way out of proportion?
Yes, he probably is not the happiest camper and we all know he has ego issues based on what we have seen in the past. Still, is any of this confirmed or is it all just being over-hyped?
Really playing hardball there Pack, like Jerry Jones signing Dalton to show Dak they meant business…LOL
And what other free agent QB was out there that they could have signed in order to show Rodgers that they were “playing hardball” and “meant business?” Robert Griffin III? Brett Hundley? Or should they have traded future draft capital now for a QB?
Good Luck GB. Owners and teams don’t control ANYTHING. We live in a individualistic world. Bortles? That will teach those players a lesson!
Jake Jortles!!! (Molotov Cocktail throw)
Well if that isn’t a sign you want to suck forever!!!!
Hope crybaby doesn’t mind.
If I didn’t know better, I’d think the Packers are now getting QB advice from the Bears.
Nothing to see here. Move along.
They could sign all of the available back up QBs in the league and it really wouldn’t have anything to do with whether or not Rodgers will be their starting QB next season.
Most older franchise QBs don’t participate in off-season camps. Still, the receivers need someone to throw the ball to them in camp, and the offenses need QBs to have a full roster. With all of the players in camps, mostly new players needing development and free agents trying to make the team, there are a lot more players and a lot more passes needing to be thrown. So, to get that accomplished effectively, they bring in as many “hired guns” as needed to get that done.
Nothing more to it.
I have to give this an up vote because no one else would ever refer to Bortles as a “hired gun” with a straight face.