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Green Bay Packers add Blake Bortles for quarterback depth

Denver Broncos head coach Vic Fangio, left, confers with newly-signed quarterback Blake Bortles as he stretches at a practice on Sept. 24 in Englewood, Colo. (AP file photo)

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — The Green Bay Packers have signed Blake Bortles as they attempt to add quarterback depth while MVP Aaron Rodgers’ future with the team remains uncertain.

Rodgers, who has reportedly expressed his desire not to return to Green Bay, had been one of two quarterbacks on the roster along with 2020 first-round draft pick Jordan Love. General manager Brian Gutekunst said after the draft that “we’ll add a third arm and maybe a fourth arm as we go through.”

Bortles, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 draft, will be reunited with Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.

The 29-year-old Bortles started 73 games for the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2014-18. Hackett was Jacksonville’s quarterbacks coach from 2015-16 and offensive coordinator from 2016-18.

The move gives the Packers three quarterbacks who were drafted in the first round. Rodgers was selected 24th overall in 2005. The Packers traded up four spots to take Love 26th last year.

How long Rodgers will remain with the Packers remains unclear.

After ESPN reported just before the draft that Rodgers doesn’t want to return to Green Bay, Packers CEO Mark Murphy posted a column on the team’s website in which he said “this is an issue that we’ve been working on for several months.”

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