Trading Blake Bortles ‘makes sense’ according to Pro Football Focus

The Jacksonville Jaguars have sent a message about their quarterback situation by hosting prospects like Deshaun Watson, but is trading Blake Bortles an option?

With the 2017 NFL Draft only two weeks away, it’s time to pull out all the stops and start throwing around crazy ideas. Draft fatigue has set in and we’ve seen essentially every permutation of how the top 5 or so draft picks could go, so it’s only natural to start venturing into… questionable territory.

For example, it’s not completely unreasonable to propose a trade in which the Jacksonville Jaguars move on from former first round pick Blake Bortles. After a solid sophomore campaign, Bortles was a massive disappointment in his third year and new executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin has yet to fully back the maligned signal-caller.

What is crazy to propose a trade where the Jaguars can somehow get back a first round pick for Bortles.

Josh Liskiewitz over at Pro Football Focus did just that in a recent piece where he discussed a few draft trades that allegedly “make sense.”

"3. Jaguars trade Blake Bortles to the Cardinals their first-round pickAfter taking a step forward in 2015, Bortles took about 10 backward in 2016. While he was sacked 33 percent less last season than he was the year prior, he still threw 16 picks and improved his completion percentage a whopping 0.3 percent to 58.9. While Jacksonville has made strides on defense, Bortles is at this stage holding the offense back, and it’s tough to envision things getting better for him with the Jaguars this year considering the brand new coaching staff and system.Arizona made it all the way to the NFC championship game in 2015, but missed the playoffs completely in 2016, as aging QB Carson Palmer looked broken. Finding a QB of the future should be priority No. 1 for them this year, and as poorly as Bortles played down the stretch last season, a restart with a better roster could help him realize his potential.Make no mistake about it – this would be a huge risk on the part of both teams. Jacksonville would be left with Chad Henne and likely a rookie being forced to start on day one, while the Cardinals would be banking on the opposite, the idea that this draft class does not offer a viable solution ready to step in immediately. However, considering the sense of urgency in the desert with a roster with aging players in critical roles, and the year or so of house money for the new staff in Jacksonville, this deal could be positive for both sides."

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Josh somehow goes from writing a few coherent points about how Bortles has been a disappointment to justifying a scenario where the Arizona Cardinals would give up first rounder to get him.

Listen, I would sign up for this trade right now if it was on the table. Bortles stock could not be lower at this point – I would’ve been shocked if the offer was even a second round pick in this piece.

With another first round pick, the Jaguars would be more inclined to use an early round pick for Bortles’ apparent replacement. It’s a lot easier to stomach a season full of quarterback growing pains when it’s a rookie and not a 4th year starter.

As for the Cardinals, I don’t really know how much sense this makes. Carson Palmer is going to start this year and Bortles only has one year left on his deal… so what are they going to do with Bortles?

I’d be a fan of this, but it’s about as likely as the Jaguars signing Tim Tebow.