The Philadelphia Eagles are Super Bowl champions for the first time in franchise history and it’s largely thanks to Nick Foles.
Nick Foles won Super Bowl MVP for the Eagles. But who will he play for in 2018?
Foles is suddenly a much more valuable player who is likely to be on the trade market.
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The backup quarterback stepped in for the Eagles when Carson Wentz suffered a season-ending knee injury in December and less than two months later, he led the team to a 41-33 win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 52.
Foles did it with 373 passing yards, three touchdowns, and one interception on Sunday. He even added a receiving touchdown in a career-defining performance that earned him Super Bowl MVP honors.
And now the Eagles are in an interesting place.
There’s no quarterback controversy: Carson Wentz is Philadelphia’s quarterback of the future. Prior to his knee injury, the No. 2 pick in the 2016 NFL Draft was in the middle of making a strong case to be the NFL’s MVP.
But the Eagles have a disposable Super Bowl MVP quarterback on their hands and there will likely be a list of teams interested in the possibility of acquiring a passer who just outdueled Tom Brady en route to a Lombardi Trophy.
Foles is as hot and cold as any quarterback
Here are a few facts about Foles:
- His 119.2 passer rating in 2013 is the third-highest in NFL history and better than any mark Brady has put up in a single season.
- He joined Eli Manning as the only quarterback to beat Brady in the Super Bowl.
- He joined Doug Williams as the only other backup quarterback to ever become a Super Bowl MVP.
- He was traded by the Eagles in 2015, cut by the Rams in 2016, and the second-year option on his deal with the Chiefs was declined in 2017.
- He was benched by the Rams and replaced by Case Keenum in 2015 after throwing seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions over 11 starts.
Foles has climbed to the mountaintop. Foles has also spent plenty of time in the trash heap.
Even in his two-month path to Super Bowl 52, Foles threw four touchdowns in his first start against the Giants. Then he followed it by completing less than 50 percent of his passes with one touchdown and two interceptions in the last two weeks of the regular season.
There’s likely a market for Foles, but NFL teams are likely going to hedge their bets instead of going all in on such a wildly inconsistent player.
There are many teams in need of a starting QB
The Kirk Cousins sweepstakes will give one team its starter for the future, but after that there are few veteran free agents with starting ability. The most intriguing options will be whoever gets spit out of the Vikings’ quarterback carousel of Sam Bradford, Case Keenum, and Teddy Bridgewater on to the open market.
Teams on the hunt for a veteran may feel more confident in Foles, fresh off leading the Eagles to a Super Bowl victory, than anyone who played for the Vikings in 2017.
Here are five teams that would make sense to be in the market for Foles:
Carson Palmer is retiring and the answer at quarterback is not on the roster in Drew Stanton or Blaine Gabbert. Arizona probably won’t get its first choice of passers in the draft either after finishing with the No. 15 pick.
There was never much confidence in Tyrod Taylor in Buffalo and he was even benched at one point for Nathan Peterman. Taylor likely won’t be back with the Bills in 2018 because the team can save $15 million by cutting him this offseason. It’s hard to feel confident in Peterman for the future after he struggled badly as a rookie too.
DeShone Kizer was an absolute disaster as a rookie and the Browns will almost definitely move forward. As owners of the No. 1 and No. 4 picks in the draft, Cleveland will likely find its passer of the future in April, but 2017 was plenty of evidence that starting a rookie right away isn’t the best idea.
John Elway made it clear that getting better at the quarterback position is the top priority after Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch, and Brock Osweiler didn’t cut it in 2018. The Broncos will probably swing for the fences and also have the No. 5 pick to work with.
The Jaguars have a great defense and can run the ball — they just didn’t have the most consistent play at quarterback with Blake Bortles. At the very least, the team will want to add more competition to try to improve a passing offense that slowed down a roster that was otherwise ready to compete for a Super Bowl.
How much would it cost to acquire Foles?
This is the toughest question to answer. Finding a starting quarterback isn’t cheap and it’s unlikely that any team is going to be interested in trading for him unless it believes he’ll start in 2018.
Foles is set to count just $7.6 million against the salary cap for the Eagles in 2018 with $3 million coming in a roster bonus. It’s a trade-friendly contract that teams can acquire with little long-term risk and will leave them protected if he turns back into a pumpkin.
So the Eagles can likely expect a second- or third-round draft pick in return for Foles.
For now, it’s celebration time. But Foles’ unlikely path to Super Bowl MVP creates a nice situation for Philadelphia’s future too.
Eagles fans celebrate the Super Bowl win
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