NEWSLETTER
Thanks to the surprising, mustachioed rise of Gardner Minshew, a lotta fanbases out there have been wondering whether perennial kinda-pretty-fine quarterback Nick Foles could be the medium-term solution to their own QB woes.
Foles, 30, inked a four-year, $88 million contract ($50 million guaranteed) with the Jaguars this past offseason on the strength of his quality fill-in work with the Eagles the past two years. But just one game into his stint with the Jags, he jacked up his shoulder and broke his clavicle, had to have surgery, was placed on IR, and has been usurped by Minshew. With the Jaguars at 4-4, it wasn’t at all unreasonable for folks to speculate that the Jaguars could look to simply move on from Foles right away, getting out from under the contract and picking up a little draft capital in the process.
But, with a day to go before the deadline, the Eagles seem like they’ll stand pat:
Despite the emergence of Gardner Minshew, the Jaguars don't have plans to trade Nick Foles, per source. Never say never, but team with playoff aspirations has Super Bowl-winning QB on roster, wants to keep it that way.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) October 28, 2019
Indeed, the Jaguars have seen for two straight years how important it can be to have Foles backing up on your roster. Still, at 4-4 in a tremendously competitive AFC South, it’s possible keeping Foles now isn’t going to matter at any point.
As for any Bears considerations here …
Foles is not eligible to return this year until Week 11, so wasn’t going to be an immediate impact for any team that would have acquired him anyway. The Bears probably need that more than anything if they’re going to salvage a competitive 2019 season. If they were to lose two more games before Week 11, it’s definitely over.
Then again, part of what would have been attractive to the Bears with Foles is that they could incorporate him now – see how he works with these personnel, this scheme, and this coaching staff – and then let him continue starting on into 2020. Maybe the Bears draft a QB in 2nd or in the middle rounds next year to serve under Foles for a little while, and take advantage of this defense while they still have it by relying on a steady, veteran quarterback like Foles.
It’s possible the Bears could try to add Foles in the offseason in any case, and I’ll confess that I’m just stuck in that mode of wanting the Bears to act decisively RIGHT NOW to try to save this season and also set the team up for a much more successful 2020. Foles probably wasn’t going to be that guy for this season, seeing as the Bears could be plenty buried by Week 11 anyway.
That is to say: fine, Jaguars. Don’t trade Foles. Perhaps he can be on the radar, together with several other veteran options, after the season, especially if it looks financially palatable at that point. I tentatively expect we’ll be discuss that more when the season ends.
