It’s no secret that former Tennessee Titans defensive lineman Jurrell Casey was a stud during his time in the NFL.
The USC product was a perennial Pro Bowler during much of his career in Tennessee, earning the All-Star nod a total of five times from 2015 through 2019, while also earning second-team All-Pro honors in 2013.
Casey was never the most aesthetically imposing athlete on the field, but he was always a disruptive defender on the defensive line who could really do it all despite his physical limitations.
During his time in the NFL, the Pro Bowl defender faced more than his fair share of top quarterbacks around the league. However, Casey always held his own individually even if the team’s collective effort wasn’t always up to par, especially early in his stint in Nashville.
The now-retired Casey recently reflected on his NFL career with Yahoo Sports, and he was asked to name the five quarterbacks that he enjoyed sacking the most.
Casey does list some obvious ones, but some might surprise you. His list included:
Blake Bortles
Tom Brady
Ben Roethlisberger
Colin Kaepernick
Tyrod Taylor
I can’t say those would be my five if I had the career he had, but Casey did provide some valid explanations as to why those were his personal choices.
You can find the video in its entirety posted below:
New York gave Daniel Jones $82 million in guarantees and $160 million total. Here’s why that makes sense. Kinda.
It’s official. In terms of annual average salary, Daniel Jones is the seventh-highest paid player in the NFL.
His four year, $160 million contract extension pays him as much per season as NFC counterparts Dak Prescott and Matthew Stafford. He’ll take home $82 million in guarantees — more than all but seven other players in the league and more than three times as much as he earned to go 21-31-1 in four years as a starting quarterback. He earned this contract after throwing 15 touchdown passes in 16 games in 2022. He ranked second-to-last among qualified starters with an average pass distance of just 6.4 yards downfield.
All this, somehow, isn’t as bad as it seems.
Daniel Jones' $82M guaranteed at signing ranks 8th in the league, and secures him $10M more than two franchise tags would have paid him. https://t.co/D8MyLptW9K
First, let’s look at how we got here. Jones had the fifth year option on his rookie contract declined following two awful seasons under the stewardship of Joe Judge in 2020 and 2021 (his rookie year, while not great by any means, was mostly fine for a new QB). He then produced his finest season as a pro with Brian Daboll manning the sideline, producing career highs in passer rating, QBR and fourth-quarter comebacks, a career low in turnover rate (just eight in 16 games) and even a playoff win (over a fraudulent Vikings team, but still).
This left him in familiar territory once surveyed by a similarly derided first round pick. Blake Bortles led the Jacksonville Jaguars within one quarter of a Super Bowl in 2017, the final year of a rookie contract the team initially was eager to shed. Rather than let him test free agency, the Jags inked him to a three-year, $54 million deal. That didn’t pan out, and Jacksonville was able to release him the following offseason with limited cap ramifications.
The Giants weren’t able to pull that off with its uneven, young and potentially available quarterback (though coincidentally the Bortles pact is similar to the contract extension Geno Smith just signed in Seattle). Jones earned an extra year on his deal, effectively tying him to the club through 2024 (at which point he can likely angle for another extension should he continue to outplay expectations or prepare for his imminent release if he does not).
Bortles’ deal paid him roughly 10.2 percent of the 2018 salary cap per year and his guarantees ($26.5 million) were roughly 15 percent of the spending limit. Jones’ clocks in at 17.8 percent of the salary cap in annual spending and his guaranteed cash is 36.5 percent. Even adjusting for inflation, this was a significant reset to the market for shaky-then-successful fifth-year quarterbacks.
The thing is, it’s a bet the Giants had to make. Daboll, the offensive coordinator who brought out the best in Josh Allen in Buffalo, delivered a similar rise in a very different way with Jones. Moreover, he did so with a receiving corps whose top three wideouts were Darius Slayton, Richie James and Isaiah Hodgins.
Jones’ short passes weren’t the result of a Drew Brees or Ben Roethlisberger-like lack of arm strength or faith downfield — they were because he didn’t have anyone who could reliably get open. For what it’s worth, Jones’ deep ball IQR score of 101 — Sports Information Solutions’ proprietary formula that determines a quarterback’s effectiveness and efficiency — ranked fourth out of 32 qualified passers in 2022.
The Giants not only have momentum in 2023, but they also have an opportunity. Finishing third in the division means a slightly easier schedule than the Eagles or Cowboys, locking in games against the Saints and Packers. The intra-conference schedule pits the NFC East against the West — a division where half the teams (the Rams and Cardinals) will be in flux next fall. A cross-conference schedule against the AFC East isn’t ideal, but it’s reasonable to look at the upcoming slate and come up with another nine wins.
That won’t happen without stability at quarterback. Jones was almost certainly the best the Giants were going to do.
The passer who once resembled a wobbly baby giraffe taking its first steps produced 0.119 expected points added (EPA) per play — 11th-best in the NFL and better than guys like Smith, Lamar Jackson and Derek Carr. The only available quarterbacks who ranked above him were Jimmy Garoppolo (whose game is wholly dependent on playmaking wideouts and tight ends New York decidedly does not have) and Jacoby Brissett (whose arrival would spur protest were he unveiled as Jones’ replacement).
via RBSDM.com and the author
So if not Jones, then who? The Giants aren’t even the most appealing destination for a veteran quarterback in their own stadium thanks to a Jets team backed by a crushing defense and loaded with young playmakers. January’s postseason win cemented the 26th pick in this year’s draft — likely too far back to even trade into position to take a top four quarterback prospect.
The only way to capitalize on 2022’s momentum — the team’s first rays of hope since 2016 (or possibly 2012, depending on how you view Ben McAdoo) — was to retain Jones’ services. It cost the team more than it would like and added an extra year of commitment compared to the Bortles standard, but there wasn’t any other clear option other than keeping Dave Gettleman’s franchise quarterback with Dave Gettleman’s former franchise.
Daboll now has two more years to coax another leap out of Jones, hoping to pair his scrambling ability with an offense capable of unlocking some semblance of consistency downfield. That’s a value bet to make, even if it came at a cost of at least $82 million. It’s shocking to hear “Daniel Jones, top 10 highest paid player in the NFL.” But that’s the price the Giants had to pay to harness the momentum they believe could help them escape the franchise’s own woeful gravity.
It’s a risky move, but a necessary one. And if it doesn’t work, well, hopefully Jones is bad enough to set the Giants up for a prime draft pick in 2025.
After years as a journeyman backup, the 2022 Pro Bowler and Comeback Player of the Year now has a firm commitment from the Seattle Seahawks. One of the league’s foremost poster boys for “bust” (probably more so because he played for the Jets) is a comfortable starter.
For now.
The full terms of Smith’s new deal paint the picture of the Seahawks liking the 32-year-old veteran, but they still want to keep their options open. Because, you know, Smith is already nearing his mid-30s.
And as someone simply nearing their 30s alone, honestly: I get it. Your body just flat-out hurts and aches sometimes … for no reason. Why would it be potentially different for a professional athlete who gets hit by linebackers and defensive linemen?
Let’s review and grade the ins and outs of Smith’s new deal with the Seahawks.
Former New Orleans Saints quarterback Chase Daniel is pulling double-duty these days as a panelist on the NFL GameDay postgame show while backing up Justin Herbert with the Los Angeles Chargers, offering his insight as someone who’s been in the league for 13 years. You could say he’s seen a thing or two in-between trips to the bank cashing checks from six different teams as a veteran backup.
And he was impressed by Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett in Monday night’s win over the Indianapolis Colts. Though he admitted Pickett hasn’t found many wins this year while experiencing some first-year struggles, he tipped his cap to the former Pitt Panther after taking down the Colts in prime time.
“But today he balled out. I was just loving how he was so good situationally,” Daniel said, highlighting the Steelers’ efficiency on third down and in the red zone. He continued, “He looked really, really comfortable out there. Now this is the fifth-ranked Colts defense, they’re not some ‘mess around’ type defense. This is a great learning experience for him. He’s going to move on with a lot of confidence.”
The Saints chose to pass on Pickett with the No. 19 overall pick in this year’s NFL draft, instead selecting left tackle Trevor Penning. Pickett went off the board a few minutes later to the Steelers. Fast-forward to a few months later and he’s taking down the Saints in a 20-10 upset. So should New Orleans have some buyer’s remorse here? Or at least thoughts of what-might-have-been?
Probably not. Pickett’s struggles are well-documented, and his performance (3.98 adjusted net yards per pass attempt, which accounts for touchdown passes, sacks, and interceptions) has clocked in near the likes of Zach Wilson (3.86) and Blake Bortles (3.81) as some of the least-effective rookie quarterbacks to hit the field over the last decade. He very likely wouldn’t have been an upgrade over Jameis Winston and Andy Dalton had New Orleans picked him at No. 19 overall. If the Steelers hadn’t taken him there, he may have not been drafted in the first round at all.
Still, we’ll never know how it might have turned out otherwise. At this point all you can do is tip your hat to Pickett finding ways to win and hope Penning works his way into the starting lineup soon. The Saints’ offensive line hasn’t met expectations this season, and hopes are high for Penning — he’s more or less valued as their 2023 first round pick, with New Orleans having traded that selection to get the draft choice spent on him. Hopefully both players, Penning and Pickett, can go on to enjoy productive careers in the NFL.
Is there a QB controversy brewing for the Patriots?
Bailey Zappe has shown true poise over the last two games—true unmeasurable intangibles that no one truly knows until it comes time to show up.
Zappe was drafted in 2022 in the fourth-round to serve as the backup to Mac Jones, and some fans are already calling for him to be the team’s full-time starter for the foreseeable future. But those fans might want to consider pumping the brakes.
Zappe is NOT better than Mac Jones. That is not an indictment on Zappe’s skill, but more of a praise on Jones’. Zappe is doing exactly what the team wanted him to do as a long-term, skilled backup QB that can spot-start a few games and be there for insurance. He has the tools to be a one of the league’s best backups for a long time.
But make no mistake, he will not be taking Jones’ job anytime soon.
Zappe was also drafted to be trade bait for desperate teams when their starters go out for an extended period of time, or if they find themselves hoping he can become the team’s franchise QB.
I get it, it’s fun to see him out there and imagine the “what if’s” and how it’s eerily similar to Tom Brady replacing Drew Bledsoe all those years ago. But the game has changed since then.
Zappe is more in line with the Jacoby Brissetts, Nick Foles, Blake Bortles, Teddy Bridgewaters, or the Tyrod Taylors of the world, and that is not a bad thing at all. Having someone of that caliber is exactly what you need behind a franchise QB. But let’s not get it twisted, Jones is the best QB on the roster. Have we forgotten already how excited we all were when he was drafted, how he performed in Year One, and how he took a leap in the offseason? Or, is our vision clouded from the utter terrible performance of the offensive line through the first three games that we think Jones stinks?
Time mends all, and when Jones is back, it will be comforting that Zappe is behind him, rather than Brian Hoyer, Jarrett Stidham, Garrett Gilbert or current-day Cam Newton.
Think of Zappe as your primary reliver in the bullpen, but Jones is still the ace.
“The most successful season I’ve had in the NFL came with [No.] 5 at quarterback.”
Offensive tackle Cam Robinson is one of only two Jacksonville Jaguars offensive players, along with lineman Tyler Shatley, who was on the roster while Blake Bortles was still the team’s starting quarterback.
On Wednesday, Robinson had kind things to stay about his former teammate, who announced his retirement in a podcast appearance.
“I’m happy for him. I love Blake,” Robinson told 1010XL’s Mia O’Brien on Wednesday. “Blake was a great teammate. Blake was a great guy. The most successful season I’ve had in the NFL came with [No.] 5 at quarterback. So I’m happy for BOAT, and enjoy retirement.
“I would love to see a podcast [in his future] and if he does a podcast, I hope he would have me on the show at some point.”
Robinson was drafted in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft and was a full-time starter as a rookie during the team’s run to the AFC Championship. Robinson’s second season with the Jaguars — which was Bortles’ last with the team — ended in Week 2 when he suffered an ACL tear.
After the Jaguars went 10-6 in Robinson’s first season, the team is 17-52 since.
Blake Bortles retired Wednesday. Did he deserve better? Probably not, but he was still fun to have in the NFL.
The NFL won’t have ol’ Blake Bortles to kick around anymore. The veteran quarterback announced his retirement Wednesday, wrapping up an eight-year career in which he threw just two regular season passes after leaving the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2018.
It was an announcement met on Twitter, like most things, with jokes. Bortles was an easy target throughout his career for many reasons. Primarily because he played football like a man named Blake Bortles for one of the biggest punchlines in the league. He was swampland Jay Cutler, a big-armed passer with meathead sensibilities who genuinely seemed to love a game determined to drain the life from him.
Bortles was, for the most part, the answer to the question “what if Philip Rivers weren’t very good?” His throwing mechanics were strange. He perpetually looked as if he were cradling an invisible gin and tonic in his left hand as he followed through.
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Off the field, he looked like the lead singer in an unsuccessful Limp Bizkit cover band.
Despite the optics, Bortles seems like a likable guy. He handled his press duties with an “aw shucks” charm that kept him close with an “aw shucks” fanbase bred in a puddle of salt water and gasoline but never deterred.
This all made him easy to pile on. He wasn’t throwing players under the bus, even as the Jaguars stocked his depth charts with players destined for fantasy football waiver wires. His top wideouts as a rookie were Cecil Shorts and Allen Hurts. Jacksonville’s top running back that year was Denard Robinson. They were easily the least-picked Madden roster in the game.
Only one member of the Jags’ offense was named to the Pro Bowl in Bortles’ five seasons with the team. That was Allen Robinson, who exploded for 1,400 yards for a five-win team in 2015 and never reached those heights again. Bortles was sacked more than anyone that season and still managed to throw for more than 4,440 yards and 35 touchdowns. This led him to the most backhanded compliment you could hand a quarterback; he was a good fantasy football QB.
Yes, most of those yards and touchdowns came late in games whose outcomes were no longer in doubt. Yes, he led the league in interceptions that year. It didn’t matter; Bortles did not give up.
When he became a running punchline on NBC comedy The Good Place — the city of Jacksonville as a whole, really, but specifically Bortles — he somehow spun that into on-field success. After having the fifth-year option on his rookie contract declined thanks to those three seasons of underwhelming play, he led the Jaguars to a seven-win improvement in 2017 and the team’s first playoff berth in a decade. He was one overturned fumble recovery (or one Stephon Gilmore pass break-up) from Super Bowl 52.
The Jags took note, extending him on a three-year, $54 million contract that really just gave him one more year to figure things out. The Good Place took note as well, turning Bortles’ competence into a harbinger of chaos ungraspable by the very architects who built our world.
[And yes, Bortles and his family heard and did not care for the jokes. I received an email from his uncle Randy — I swear to you, his name is Randy Bortles — after a critical article written at SB Nation that I could not possibly print here because children may be reading].
This didn’t pan out. Bortles’ brush with competence was brief. He returned to a passing attack led by Dede Westbrook and Donte Moncrief and shrunk back into the tiny, one-bedroom apartment of disappointment the Jaguars had been expertly furnishing for years.
While Leonard Fournette was able to turn his frustration outward and generate a second act with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Bortles remained a good soldier. After being released by a franchise who’d drafted a broken toy and made no effort to fix it, Bortles jumped from team to team as a backup fans were excited to see on the roster but not on the field.
Bortles’ accomplishments exceed most NFL resumes. He was a top three NFL Draft pick. He won as many playoff games as Joe Namath or Michael Vick and more than Jay Cutler or Carson Palmer.
Did he deserve better? With more than $47 million in career earnings and 75 interceptions in 73 starts, probably not. But for a guy whose career was mostly jokes, he seemed to take it all in stride. He was more energetic than Cutler and more likable than Kirk Cousins.
He was also worse than both, but hey, we’ll always have 2018. Enjoy your retirement, Florida man.
Blake Bortles, who spent two different stints with the Packers in 2021, has retired from the NFL.
Quarterback Blake Bortles, who spent two different stints with the Green Bay Packers during the 2021 season, has retired from the National Football League, per Pardon My Take.
Bortles, the third overall pick in 2014, played in 78 career games and threw 103 touchdown passes but never saw the field for the Packers.
The Aaron Rodgers saga pushed the Packers to sign Bortles as a veteran option in May of 2021. After Rodgers returned to the team before training camp, Bortles was released.
He returned as a backup on the practice squad after Rodgers tested positive for COVID-19 in November. The Packers elevated him to the gameday roster as the backup for Jordan Love against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Bortles, who turned 30 in April, played for five NFL teams, including a brief stint with the New Orleans Saints.
The Packers faced Bortles as a starting quarterback just once, beating him and the Jaguars 27-23 in Week 1 of the 2016 season. Bortles threw for 320 yards but was intercepted once and sacked three times.
Bortles was the third pick in 2014. Current Packer receiver Sammy Watkins was the fourth overall pick. Bortles and Watkins are two of only four players in the top 17 picks of that draft to never make a Pro Bowl. The Packers took safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix with the 21st overall pick in 2014.
Blake Bortles still owns the Jaguars franchise records for passing yards and passing touchdowns in a season.
Former Jacksonville Jaguars starting quarterback Blake Bortles is “officially retired,” he revealed on a podcast Tuesday.
“I have not touched a football since January,” Bortles said on an episode of Pardon My Take. “I quietly, I didn’t tell anybody, I retired. I guess you guys are kind of the first to hear it publicly, maybe.”
When asked if he’d be willing to come out of retirement for a two-year, $15 million contract, he said “absolutely.”
“I’m pretty set with where I’m at with the decision,” Bortles said. “I think if someone were dumb enough to offer that kind of money, it’s kind of hard to pass on.”
Bortles, 30, was the third overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft and took over as the Jaguars’ starter early in his rookie year. In his second season, Bortles set franchise records which still stand for passing yards (4,428) and passing touchdowns (35), although he also threw a league-leading 18 interceptions that year.
In 2017, with Bortles still starting at quarterback, the Jaguars reached the AFC Championship, although it was primarily a credit to the NFL’s second ranked defense and top ranked rushing offense.
Bortles re-signed with the Jaguars after that season on a three-year, $54 million deal, but was benched late in the 2018 season. Jacksonville released Bortles in March 2019 on the same day the team signed Nick Foles.
After his tenure with the Jaguars, Bortles spent time as a backup with the Los Angeles Rams, and was on the practice squads of the Denver Broncos and Green Bay Packers. Earlier this year, he signed a reserve/future contract with the New Orleans Saints, but was released in April after the team added Andy Dalton.
Bortles had a 24-49 record in his five seasons as a starter with the Jaguars with 103 touchdowns and 75 interceptions. He’s second in franchise history in passing yards and passing touchdowns, and he’s eighth in rushing yards.
Blake Bortles has become a free agent after asking the Saints to release him when they signed Andy Dalton.
Jacksonville Jaguars fans who were hoping to see Blake Bortles at least suit up in the preseason will have to wait until the veteran quarterback finds a new team. When the New Orleans Saints signed Andy Dalton, Bortles asked to be released by the team and his request was granted, making him a free agent at the moment.
The Saints signed Bortles the day before Christmas last season when their quarterback’s room was dealing with COVID-19 issues. Both Taysom Hill and Trevor Siemian tested positive for the coronavirus heading into Week 16’s game against the Miami Dolphins, so the team needed an arm behind Ian Book heading into it.
Bortles ended up signing a reserve/future contract with New Orleans in January, but with Dalton in the picture, his chances for the desired role took a hit.
Bortles, who was drafted third overall by the Jags in 2014 and spent five seasons with them, is entering his ninth season in the NFL. After his last season with the Jags in 2018, he spent the 2019 season with the Los Angeles Rams and had brief stints with the Denver Broncos, Rams (a second time), Green Bay Packers, and the Saints.
Bortles will enter the 2022 season with a 59.3 completion percentage (1,562-of-2,634), 17,649 total passing yards, 103 touchdowns, and 75 interceptions. However, his last regular season snaps took place in 2019 with the Rams.
With the draft coming up, maybe teams will wait until after this month is over to potentially bring in Bortles, especially for the teams who aren’t able to add the desired depth to their quarterback rooms. That said, maybe he can find a team to join for training camp and stick with them as a QB2-QB3.
