Could Julius Thomas Be Missing Piece for Blake Bortles, Jaguars?

Jacksonville's youth-based rebuild is in full stride. First- and second-year players, drafted or otherwise, litter the Jaguars roster. Jacksonville peppers in an occasional veteran free-agent placeholder or buy-low candidate for flavor.

The one player who stands out from that roster dichotomy is tight end Marcedes Lewis. Lewis is one of the few leftovers from a misguided playoff push led by former general manager Gene Smith. Smith signed Lewis to a ridiculous five-year, $35 million contract in 2011.

To say Lewis has been a Keep Getting Dem Checks All-Star would be correct. Ironically, the minimum salary requirements of the NFL salary cap have enabled his bloated contract to stay on the books. That's right. In the weird world of NFL caponomics, the collective bargaining agreement incentivizes bad teams to hang on to bad contracts. 

But this must end. The Jaguars are trying to develop quarterback Blake Bortles. Well, develop is the wrong word. They must create him in the first place to develop him. Either way, the Jaguars are in need of someone paid like Lewis but able to do distinctly non-Lewis things like "stay healthy," "catch more than 50 balls in a season" and "actually draw attention from a defense." 

In other words, they could use someone like Denver Broncos tight end Julius Thomas. And hey, what a world! Thomas will be a free agent! With the Broncos more focused on bringing back wideout Demaryius Thomas, it seems likely that (Julius) Thomas will hit the market. 

I think Thomas is a better fit for the Jaguars than oft-rumored wideout targets like the Green Bay Packers' Randall Cobb. Jacksonville has young wide receivers who need playing time to develop. Signing Cobb just to bench a player like Allen Hurns won't move the needle in Jacksonville. 

Whereas the Jaguars' tight end position is in need of a kick-start—waiver claim Clay Harbor and Lewis split most of the time last season. They were adequate in a hurricane of sailed Bortles throws. But Jacksonville should have higher aspirations at this point. Especially since they need to be pulling out all the stops to give Bortles his best chance to succeed.

Player	Snaps	DYAR (Rk)	DVOA (Rk)	Catch Rate
Clay Harbor	489	6 (31)	-4.4% (31)	74%
Marcedes Lewis	443	-5 (33)	-9.7% (33)	58%

Is Thomas worth the money?

This is a question that splits into different forks. Thomas is going to get top-of-the-market money. Tight ends like Thomas rarely hit the market in the first place. The salary cap will only continue to rise. Jacksonville is in a unique position since it can shed $6.8 million just by releasing Lewis, per Over the Cap. They could fold Thomas into Lewis' salary space. 

Is Thomas going to live up to his earlier statistical production?

Nope. Despite his fade at the tail end of last season, Peyton Manning is an obvious boon to his receivers. It's impossible to overstate the drop-off from Manning to Bortles. I'd liken it to Harry Truman somehow being able to replace Douglas MacArthur with Zapp Brannigan. Cham-Pag-In may have been a Jaguars audible last season for all we know.

"

.@thedeuces2215 I would be VERY hesitant to pay Julius Thomas big time free agent $$$

— Matt Williamson (@WilliamsonNFL) February 10, 2015"

But Thomas can have a huge impact in Jacksonville without setting yardage records. Bortles needed underneath receivers to get positive yards under pressure last season. Thomas addresses a huge need and should make Bortles' job easier. 

Jacksonville has bigger holes to fill this offseason. It could use an actual tackle solution rather than trying to cram more bodies there. It could use an elite pass-rusher. It needs to find Earl Thomas Lite at safety rather than using Anthony Thomas Lite there. 

But pursuing Thomas would be important for a different reason. It would allow the Jaguars to look themselves in the mirror and be honest when they say they tried their best to help Bortles. They can also move on completely from the Smith era. 

Thomas isn't a player the Jaguars need. But he'd be an important acquisition in the scope of becoming the team they need to be. 

All DYAR and DVOA numbers cited are courtesy of Football Outsiders. Learn more about DVOA here. 

Rivers McCown is the AFC South lead writer for Bleacher Report and the co-host of the Three-Cone Drill podcast. His work has also appeared on Football Outsiders and ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter at @riversmccown.