Blake Bortles played well enough in the postseason to cement his return to the Jaguars, even at a $19.1 million price tag for 2018. But mitigating circumstances could complicate things. For starters, Bortles reportedly had surgery on his right wrist. The good news is that he's expected to make a full recovery.

The bad news is that late Tuesday night the Chiefs agreed to trade Alex Smith to the Redskins. On the surface, this wouldn't appear to have anything to do with Bortles' future, but with Smith headed to Washington, Kirk Cousins is now looking for work. And Jacksonville seems like a natural landing spot.

And now here's the question the Jaguars have to answer: Is Cousins, who at 29 is four years older than Bortles, worth what will likely be a five-year, $128 million contract with roughly $75 million guaranteed? Bortles will be compensated like a replacement-level quarterback because, well, that's what he is. But he's also not the reason the Jaguars came up short against the Patriots in the AFC Championship game.

That said, Bortles is an exception to the rule; in today's NFL teams typically don't make deep playoff runs without a legit franchise quarterback. And although Cousins had a mediocre season by his standards, he was among the league's best passers in 2015 and 2016, when he ranked seventh and third, respectively, in total value among all quarterbacks.

The Jags have $20.1 million in cap space in 2018, according to Spotrac, but that money might be used to fill needs other than quarterback. Because according to NFL.com's Ian Rapoport, Jacksonville remains committed to Bortles. 

Bortles also has the full support of his teammates, which has to be a consideration when discussing his future. Regarding his future, one option could be to have him under center in 2018, and if the Jaguars aren't sold on him long term, they could draft his replacement this spring. Alternatively, if they think Bortles will continue to grow, the team could offer him a multi-year deal that will most likely pay him middle-of-the-road quarterback money, which certainly seems reasonable.

What doesn't appear in the cards, at least according to Rapoport, is that the Jags will make a run at Cousins.