John Dorsey hasn’t been linked to any teams since the Chiefs fired him late last month. The juncture of the dismissal makes Dorsey’s status somewhat tenuous for the 2017 season. He’d been mentioned as a potential Ted Thompson replacement in Green Bay, but nothing’s emerged since he became available. And Charles Robinson of Yahoo.com recently threw cold water on a potential Packers reunion. An obvious connection points to the Colts, the team former top Dorsey lieutenant Chris Ballard now runs as GM. But a union this late in the offseason doesn’t make this fit right, Kevin Bowen of Colts.com writes. With Dorsey likely to be on some radars for ensuing GM vacancies, the Colts may just be renting him for six months in this scenario. Bowen expects Dorsey to sit out the 2017 season and re-emerge as a leading candidate elsewhere in 2018.
Here’s more out of the AFC South.
- Arguing a team other than the Colts was in the best long-term position in this division seemed fruitless for several years, given Andrew Luck‘s Indianapolis employment. But with the Colts having changed their management structure after having not made the playoffs behind their talented quarterback the past two years, the Titans appear to have usurped them as the long-term team of the moment here. The NFL Nation’s AFC South contingent at ESPN.com suggest the Titans are, in fact, positioned best for long-term success. Of course, Tennessee hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2008, but the presence of Marcus Mariota, an upward-trending offensive line and some weapons added this offseason helped the franchise move into this position.
- Blake Bortles will again enter a season as the Jaguars‘ starting quarterback. But after more positive stances about the fourth-year passer’s potential surfaced last summer following a 2015 season of 35 touchdown passes, he’s on the quarterback hot seat, so to speak, after a brutal 2016. Bortles’ finish to the 2016 season, one that featured just one interception in the campaign’s final month compared to 15 in the three prior months, encourages Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com, to a point. DiRocco noted Bortles’ mechanics are still poor and that his ceiling may be on the Brian Hoyer/Jon Kitna tier, which may mean the Jags are going to have to look at this position hard come 2018. But the limiting of the turnovers were a positive sign.
- PFR’s Connor Byrne delved into Bortles’ make-or-break 2017. Barring injury, he’s not guaranteed any money in 2018.