Blake Bortles is better than Kirk Cousins

At the end of the day, Blake Bortles is simply better than Kirk Cousins. It’s as simple as that. It’s not popular, I know. After all, chicks dig the long ball, right? Cousins is a three-time 4,000-yard passer and about to break the bank on his next contract. Meanwhile, Bortles is known for ill-timed interceptions and not being consistent.

Blake Bortles Is Better

But guess what? Bortles has two more playoff wins than Cousins. Period. And he very nearly pulled off a third. So yes, the Jacksonville Jaguars could have been in on the bidding for Kirk Cousins to be their next starting quarterback. But why break up a team that is on the rise and was a defensive stop away from going to the Super Bowl last season?

Don’t get me wrong. The hoopla surrounding Cousins is somewhat justified. After all, he has swagger, he put up numbers despite a suspect list of offensive players on D.C. last season, and he has worked his way up from being a late round pick. Throw in the fact that Washington hasn’t exactly had the defense that the Jags had this past season and you have a what if thought about how far he could have taken a better team.

But in a salary cap world where teams let go of Pro Bowl players just to get their numbers in order, Bortles was had for several million dollars less a year. Meanwhile, Cousins could command as much as 30 million a year, requiring teams to cut really good players just to bring him aboard.

Nope, until Cousins wins a couple of playoff games and elevates a team to championship contender, you can’t jettison a Bortles type just because he may not be the sexier choice. Heck, Bortles is also a runner, able to use his legs in any given situation. While Cousins is a scrambler, he doesn’t have the jets of a Bortles.

So Cousins and his team will deliberate and figure his next move. But it won’t include Jacksonville. He might end up in New York or Denver or Minnesota or Arizona. But I’m willing to bet the NFL odds that Bortles and the Jags will go further than Cousins and his new team next season.

Matthew Ross is a sports commentator and a radio host on TSN 690 Radio in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Follow him @MatthewWords.

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Written by Matthew Ross

Matthew Ross is a sports commentator and a radio host on TSN 690 Radio in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He's also a contributor to ESPN 101.3 Plattsburgh/Burlington. Follow him @MatthewWords.