The Jacksonville Jaguars are reportedly looking to trade quarterback Nick Foles after only one year. Where is the best landing spot for him this offseason?
It looks like the Jacksonville Jaguars made a horrible investment in Nick Foles.
Last offseason, Jacksonville paid the former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback $88 million to be the Jaguars’ starting quarterback for the next three years. Foles suffered a broken collarbone in the Jaguars’ Week 1 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Sixth-round rookie Gardner Minshew filled in marvelously for him for most of the season. Now Jacksonville is looking to move on from Foles.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano, “word is the Jaguars want to go with Gardner Minshew as their starting quarterback and, ideally, find a trade partner for Foles.” The ESPN Insider report mentions the Indianapolis Colts as a potential landing spot for the Super Bowl LI MVP.
But is the best spot for him? Will Jacksonville be willing to deal him within the division?
The idea behind Foles going to Indianapolis is he would be reunited with his former Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich, who will be entering his third season as the Colts’ head coach. Together, they helped the Eagles win Super Bowl 51 over the New England Patriots in improbable fashion. The schematic fit is there, but do the Colts want to take on this much salary?
Indianapolis is swimming in cap space with roughly $86.1 million for 2020. Only the Miami Dolphins have more available cap space than the Colts. So Indianapolis could handle a contract seemingly as immovable the one Jacksonville has on its hands with Foles. However, they still have Jacoby Brissett on the books for 2020, who carries a $12.5 million dead cap hit.
While Foles has familiarity with Reich’s system, as well as the Colts not having a long-term answer at quarterback after Andrew Luck abruptly retired during last preseason, Indianapolis would have two expensive stop-gap quarterbacks on their hands and nothing more. Plus, why would Jacksonville be this willing to deal him within the division anyway?
Surely, there are other teams that could have interest in Foles. Perhaps a return to the City of Brotherly Love for a third time could be in the mix? Eagles starter Carson Wentz is talented, but is injury prone. Plus, Foles did star in Doug Pederson‘s offense when called up in 2017 and, to some extent, 2018. Overall, bringing Foles back would be welcomed, but it would be awkward for Wentz.
Another team that could be in the market is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, especially if they move off Jameis Winston. Tampa Bay has the third-most available cap space at roughly $85 million. Foles may not turn the ball over as often as Winston, so a deal to Tampa Bay could work. However, Foles only feels like a slight upgrade over the Mike Glennon experiment, whose best skill is being tall.
Overall, there is not a robust trade market for a fringe starter on the wrong side of 30 in Foles. Odds are Jacksonville will have to eat his salary and keep him on the roster as a high-priced backup to Minshew in 2020. What this really comes down to is how badly the Jaguars want to get off the worst contract in football. They have to deal with the consequences of their bad decisions.