The Packers are a bit shorthanded at the quarterback position at the moment. Because of an ongoing dispute between Aaron Rodgers and the team, Green Bay entered Wednesday with only one quarterback on its roster, Jordan Love, who is set to be at their in-person offseason workouts that begin Monday.
As such, the team is taking a proactive approach and is signing a veteran passer to serve as the third-string quarterback.
That would be Blake Bortles, who, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports, signed a one-year contract with the Packers on Wednesday afternoon.
Bortles, 29, spent the 2020 season bouncing between the Rams and Broncos rosters and practice squads. He didn’t play a snap for either team and hasn’t started a game since 2018, his final season with the Jaguars. During the past two seasons, he has a combined two regular-season pass attempts.
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For his career, Bortles sports a 24-49 record and has completed 59.3 percent of his passes for 103 touchdowns and 75 interceptions. He is merely a backup-caliber quarterback at best and will provide experience behind the 22-year-old Love.
Of course, some may be wondering what this means for Rodgers’ future. Does signing Bortles mean that the Packers are ready to consider trading the veteran quarterback? Have the two sides reached an impasse?
Probably not. Even if Rodgers were set to attend offseason workouts, he probably wouldn’t be taking that many early-offseason reps at this point in his career. So, Green Bay would still need another quarterback to come in and take some reps to avoid overworking Love.
If Rodgers were there and happy, maybe the team wouldn’t go after Bortles and would instead go after a younger player with more upside.
But all told, the team signing Bortles won’t have much of an impact on the Rodgers situation.