Do they trade him or keep him? That’ll be the question facing general manager Howie Roseman the entire offseason.
Either way you look at it, there are benefits and drawbacks to each argument. On one hand, Foles’ value has never been higher. He’s coming off one of the best postseasons ever by a Quarterback and a Super Bowl MVP performance against the Patriots. Howie could easily convince a QB-needy team that Foles is their answer. If he could do it with Sam Bradford, there’s no doubt in my mind he could do it with the Super Bowl MVP.
On the other hand, Carson Wentz may not be ready for the start of the season due to the torn ACL he suffered back in week 14. And what better contingency plan is there than having the reigning Super Bowl MVP start while Wentz is recovering? There isn’t one.
The Eagles won’t know if Wentz’s injury will carry over into next season until the start of OTA’s most likely. This gives Howie a bit of a lull period to ponder his options.
Regardless of what he decides to do, I think the first order of action should be to sign Foles to an extension. With one year remaining on his current deal his value is lower compared to if he was under a long-term contract. No team wants to trade away draft picks for a Quarterback who is only under contract for one season. Resigning him not only raises his value even more than what it’s already at, but if Howie decides to keep him through the season he won’t have to watch Foles walk at the end of the year into free agency and essentially get nothing for him.
Secondly, Howie needs to listen to willing trade partners ONLY if they break the bank with draft picks. There are seven teams where Foles could step right in and be the day one starter for; Arizona, Buffalo, Miami, both New York teams, Cleveland, and Denver. All these teams have relatively high draft picks and if any of them offered a first-round pick for Foles I think it’s nearly impossible to pass up. If they manage to get a high pick they could grab an impact player to fill the depth we’re sure to lose this offseason. I think that’s really the only way Howie trades Foles before the draft. If this doesn’t happen, and there isn’t a team throwing draft picks at Howie for Foles then it’s in the team’s best interest to hold on to him until after Wentz is healthy.
So what happens if no ones willing to trade a first-round pick for Foles? Well, that’s when Howie plays the waiting game. Injuries happen every year in training camp and sometimes even in minicamp. If a team’s starting QB goes down before the start of the season or during the pre-season there won’t be a better Quarterback on the trading block than Nick Foles. This is exactly what happened with Sam Bradford. Teddy Bridgewater went down during training camp and they sent the Birds a first-round pick for Bradford in a desperate attempt to save their season. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw similar situation play itself out with Foles.
But what if Wentz isn’t healthy enough to play yet? Then I don’t believe Howie will move Foles — no matter what any team offers for him. There’s no one else I would want to start in place of Wentz other than Nick Foles. And that’s the consensus in the Eagles’ front office as well.
It’ll be interesting to see how Howie handles this situation. Since he was brought back to be GM after Chip was fired he hasn’t made any mistakes; nearly every move he’s made has worked. I expect him to make the right choice yet again with Nick Foles.