Any questions about what the Philadelphia Eagles would do under center going forward were answered at the start of the team’s offseason, as Doug Pederson announced the team would move forward with Carson Wentz at quarterback. This, of course, led to questions about what the future held for Nick Foles, who led the team to a win in Super Bowl LII and has been lights out in relief of Wentz the past two years.
On Saturday, we received a little more clarity about what might happen to the 30-year-old signal caller. A report by Ian Rapoport of NFL Network brought word that the Eagles plan on picking up the $20 million option Foles has in his contract, although things are quite a bit more complex than that.
From Super Bowl Live: The #Eagles are expected to pick up the $20M option for QB Nick Foles, sources say. Not a surprise, but an important piece. What happens next will be intriguing. pic.twitter.com/FOpLeAhQu1
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 2, 2019
“My understanding is at that point, Foles would likely give the Eagles $2 million to then buy his freedom, he would be a free agent,” Rapoport said. “That opens up the door for the Eagles possibly franchise tagging him and then trading him. If they tag him, he, of course, would sign it right away, and then work with the Eagles on a solution to settle on a team that they would all agree with.”
That report was confirmed by Adam Schefter of ESPN, who wrote that, while Philly is playing things close to the vest, there is a belief that they’ll want a Day 2 draft pick for Foles.
The Eagles refused to specify any of their plans for Foles. But being that other teams already have inquired on Foles’ price, and it is expected to be around a third-round pick, the way for Philadelphia to secure the quarterback’s rights this offseason would be with a franchise tag.
It’s an awfully unique situation, although it’s not particularly unexpected, because even though Foles is beloved in Philadelphia and new life has been breathed in his career since returning to the Eagles in 2017, his path to starting involves something bad happening to Wentz, decidedly Philadelphia’s franchise quarterback moving foward. It’s a position no player wants to find themselves in, and if there is a silver lining for Foles, it’s that the team appears to understand this and wants to make sure it does right by the still-reigning Super Bowl MVP.
