Jacksonville Jaguars re-sign quarterback Chad Henne

In a headline move that should shake the foundation of the entire National Football League, the Jaguars re-signed backup quarterback Chad Henne.

If you missed the earlier news from the day (the Jaguars signed Abry Jones to a new contract), no one would blame given the groundbreaking report that the Jacksonville Jaguars have managed to retain Chad Henne.

https://twitter.com/Jaguars/status/831957779334234114

I’m having some fun here obviously, but it is kind of a curious move by the team. I don’t think it will really make them any more committed to Henne absolutely being on the 53-man roster, but it’s still a move worth analyzing.

Ryan O’Halloran over at the Florida Times-Union speculates the move will actually lower Henne’s cap hit this year.

Ryno’s later tweet actually jives more with what I was thinking – the Jaguars didn’t like what they saw in terms of cheap veteran free-agent quarterbacks, so they stuck with a known entity.

At the end of the day, I don’t think this will have too much of an impact on how the Jaguars approach the draft or the rest of free agency.

The Jaguars were probably never going to go after Jimmy Garropolo, and they probably don’t see much reason in bringing in a guy like Colin Kaepernick or Robert Griffin III when Blake Bortles is an equivalent prospect. Hoping someone like Tyrod Taylor becomes available also seems like a risky proposition.

In all, this is just a mild endorsement of Blake Bortles at best. Obviously Henne isn’t going to beat Bortles out in training camp, so Henne just provides a synthetic body for Bortles to beat out on the depth chart. I still expect the Jaguars to heavily consider drafting a quarterback in the mid-to-late rounds (or even the second round if someone like Deshaun Watson or Pat Mahomes slips).

And congratulations to Chad Henne for continuing to hold the best job in America – backup quarterback.