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Many people anticipate the Jaguars drafting a quarterback in the 2014 NFL Draft, possibly with the No. 3 overall pick. That could still happen but they've at least got some flexibility after bringing back Chad Henne on a two-year contract.
Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports first reported the news that Henne's headed back to Duval County before free agency begun.
This is the exact same scenario that CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora predicted in his recent column on the free agency landscape for quarterbacks.
And it's a scenario that makes sense, frankly. Henne knows he has a very good chance to play in Jacksonville; at the very least he's already ahead of Blaine Gabbert on the depth chart. Worst case is he has to beat out a rookie.
He's comfortable in Jacksonville and Jacksonville's comfortable with him. There's a good chance Henne could've earned some coin in free agency with other teams out there needing a quarterback, but bringing him back to the Jags was important from day 1.
Gus on signing Henne: "It's very important. We talked about Chad being a top priority right after the season."
— Ryan O'Halloran (@ryanohalloran) March 7, 2014
Bringing him back to J-Vegas gives the Jags some flexibility in terms of what they do with the draft. They'll almost certainly draft a quarterback (or two!) at some point.
But if someone like Jadeveon Clowney or Sammy Watkins is sitting there at No. 3, Henne gives the Jaguars the option of drafting for value and not drafting for need, assuming they don't like Blake Bortles/Teddy Bridgewater/Johnny Manziel better than those talents.
Worst-case scenario with Henne? They enter 2014 -- a season where they won't be competing for a Super Bowl if we're being honest -- with him under center and keep plodding down the patient path of finding a franchise quarterback.
Henne had 3,241 passing yards last year along with 13 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
