Back in March, the Cleveland Browns pulled off one of the most surprising trades of the NFL offseason when they added Tyrod Taylor. As it turns out though, Taylor wasn't their top target.
Apparently, the Browns had a bigger name in mind when they went on their trading spree in early March: Nick Foles.
According to NFL.com, the Browns called up the Eagles and made an offer for Foles at some point before the start of the league year on March 14. The offer was simple: The Browns would give Philadelphia the 35th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft and in exchange, the Eagles would ship Foles to Cleveland.
Just to give you an idea of how big of an offer that is, Jimmy Garoppolo didn't even cost that much. Back in October, the 49ers sent the 43rd overall pick to the Patriots in exchange for Jimmy G (though they didn't know at the time where in the second round the pick would fall).
With the Browns' offer, Cleveland wanted Foles so badly that they were willing to part ways with the third overall pick in the second round. However, the deal didn't happen because Foles was against it. According to NFL.com, the Eagles ran the trade by Foles and he made it clear that he wanted to stay in Philadelphia, which you can't exactly blame him for. I mean, if your choices are to play for a team that just went 0-16 or a team that just won the Super Bowl, you're probably not going to choose the team that just went winless.
The only reason the Eagles didn't trade Foles is because the offer apparently wasn't big enough. There were multiple reports during the offseason that the only way the Eagles would have been willing to part ways with Foles was if a team was willing to trade a first-round pick and a fourth-round pick.
Although it's not clear when the Browns made the offer, it sounds like it came almost exactly one month after they watched Foles light up the Patriots in Super Bowl LII. Foles took home the Super Bowl MVP award after throwing for 373 yards and three touchdowns against the Patriots. The Eagles quarterback also caught a touchdown. The Super Bowl was played on Feb. 4. The first report of an AFC team making a big offer for Foles came on March 5.
It's almost impossible to imagine what would have happened in the NFL if this trade had gone down. For one, Tyrod Taylor wouldn't be playing for the Browns because Foles would be the quarterback in Cleveland. Maybe Taylor gets traded to the Broncos, which would have left Case Keenum out to dry and at that point, maybe Keenum signs with the Cardinals. In this bizarro world, maybe the Browns could actually win the Super Bowl.
Unfortunately for Cleveland, the trade didn't happen, though.
In the end, the Browns didn't have to give up a second round pick to land their quarterback. Instead, the Browns ended up surrendering a third-round pick (65th overall) to land Taylor from the Bills. The pick that would've been used on Foles -- 35th overall -- ending up bringing running back Nick Chubb to Cleveland.
As for Foles, things also ended up working out for him. Back in April, the Eagles revised his contract and added a $2 million signing bonus to his deal for 2018. Foles could also earn roughly $14 million in incentives if he's forced to be the team's starter this season.
