The Eagles do not win Super Bowl LII, the franchise's first Super Bowl title since its inception, without the services of Nick Foles. Carson Wentz developed into an MVP candidate during the season but tore his ACL late in the year against the Rams. Foles stepped in and led the underdog Eagles to three playoff wins, including a 41-33 Super Bowl win over the Patriots.
It earned him Super Bowl MVP honors, high praise from some alright (alright, alright) celebrities, and now it's apparently sent his trade value through the roof.
Foles is definitely a trade candidate, but it's hard to imagine the Eagles shipping him out of town for nothing. Not only does he appear happy in Philadelphia -- and he knows how much that means after nearly retiring during a rough stint with the Rams -- but Philly needs to make sure they have ample insurance for Wentz as their franchise quarterback recovers from serious knee surgery.
To that end, Peter King of TheMMQB.com, who spent several days post Super Bowl embedded with the Eagles, believes it would require two first-round picks to even have the discussion about prying Foles away.
King says he doesn't think the team will trade him, primarily because GM Howie Roseman and coach Doug Pederson see "the backup quarterback is one of the 10 or 12 most important players on the team." But if they do, it will be expensive.
"I don't think Philly trades quarterback Nick Foles, unless some team makes an offer that start with two first-round picks," King writes. "Even then, I'm skeptical they'd pull the trigger. This is why they got Foles in the first place -- because GM Howie Roseman and Pederson think the backup quarterback is one of the 10 or 12 most important players on the team."
This seems pretty ambitious, although it may simply be a byproduct of the Eagles not wanting to trade Foles at all. Again: Wentz is coming off ACL surgery, and while he is slated to be ready for Week 1, there is nothing guaranteed about him making it back. If he were to suffer a setback during the offseason and the Eagles were to trade Foles, they'd have to roll with Nate Sudfeld or whomever else they brought on board. All due respect to Sudfeld/QB TBD, but making the postseason is a fine line in the NFL and you don't want to risk missing the playoffs (or losing homefield advantage, etc.) because you felt like you had too many good quarterbacks.
On the other hand, it is hard to imagine the Eagles getting two first-round picks for Foles. He is under contract for one more year, which is nice, but the Patriots just got a second-round pick midseason for Jimmy Garoppolo, who has a much better long-term outlook as a starter than Foles. Foles is only 29, but he has a bit of "is he what he is" about him, and you need to replicate the system Pederson and Co. had in place. This is why the Vikings, with new OC John DeFillippo, could make sense, but they're not giving Philly any more first-round picks for quarterbacks.
I've said or written a lot about Foles this offseason, just like most people. And here's my take on the trade market: if the Eagles can get a first-round pick for him, they have to take it and run. If they can get the deal the 49ers got from the Chiefs for Alex Smith -- two second-round picks -- they probably have to take it and run too. Trading Foles for a single second-round pick, especially one that isn't high in the draft, seems unnecessary given Wentz's injury situation.
Foles's value isn't getting higher than it is right now. You couldn't blame Roseman if he took what was on the table for his backup quarterback. He has been willing to move and shake with his quarterbacks in the past. But the Eagles also have to take a long-form approach to the roster. They built a team with enough talent on the offensive and defensive lines to attempt and repeat next year. This was not a one-and-done run built on high-spending free agency.
It was also a run that doesn't happen without Foles, which only emphasizes just how much the Eagles need to make sure they have sufficient talent at the position to back up Wentz. Which might explain why they are only willing to trade Foles under the best-case scenario.
