Yesterday, Cecil Lammey from NFL Insider for 104.3 The Fan reported that the Eagles are going to let Nick Foles walk as a free agent. According to his sources, the Eagles don’t have enough cap space to pull off a sign-and-trade deal.
This doesn’t come as a huge surprise, most of us who were throwing trade scenarios out there were thinking wishfully.
With the Nick Foles era in Philly seemingly coming to an end, what should the Eagles do about their now vacant backup QB spot?
The obvious answer here is to elevate Nate Sudfeld into the backup spot. He’s been with the team for over two years now, and from the limited snaps we’ve seen of him in the regular and preseason he seems ready to step up into that role. Not to mention the Eagles organization is very high on Sudfeld. When he was on the practice squad in 2017, the Eagles offered him a contract and made the roster moves to ensure that they could retain him in response to the Colts trying to sign him away.
However, with the competitive culture that Doug Pederson has created over the past three years, I doubt he’ll just be handed the spot. Sudfeld will likely have to win the job during camp.
Whether or not the Eagles go after a veteran backup or a younger, more developmental QB is still up in the air. But if I had to make a prediction, I would say they’ll probably bring someone in who they can develop. That’s essentially what they did with Sudfeld.
Developing QBs is Pederson’s specialty, just look at his track record since he got to Philly. Carson Wentz had an MVP-esque season in year two and Nick Foles went from the scapegoat of the Rams’ failures to a Super Bowl MVP. Not taking away anything from either of those QBs, but they’ll be the first to tell you how big of an influence Doug was to their success.
Given Carson Wentz’s injury history, the Eagles may want to bring in someone who’s played meaningful snaps in recent years. Two interesting names to keep an eye on if this scenario plays itself out are Ryan Tannehill (if he’s released) and Tyrod Taylor. Both have played a substantial amount of snaps over the last two seasons and have proven that they can win games with talent around them.
I don’t know how likely this would be, but with how valuable the backup QB position has become in recent years, I don’t think its out of the realm of possibilities.
All in all, the Eagles seem to be comfortable with Sudfeld as their backup for now. But come free agency, don’t be surprised if they bring in a veteran QB to solidify the position.