Philadelphia Eagles: Nick Foles’ best-case scenario for 2018

The Philadelphia Eagles are NFL champions with a luxury few teams can claim. What is the best-case scenario for them and Nick Foles? Do I stay or do I go?

No matter how poor or successful a team’s season was, there are always major offseason questions on the front burner. The NFL turns over too much for even the best teams to advance a calendar year unscathed. Let’s begin our team-by-team overview with the world champion Philadelphia Eagles.

The Eagles had never won a Super Bowl before in their franchise history. Their first came with a backup quarterback at the helm. This begs the obvious and important question of what does Philly now do with Nick Foles for 2018. What is the best case scenario?

Two brothers from New York, Dan Salem and Todd Salem, debate the Philadelphia Eagles in today’s NFL Sports Debate.

Todd Salem:

Last offseason, Philadelphia signed Foles to a two-year deal (with a weird 2019 void that seems to guarantee this will be just a two-year deal) for small monies. Foles is heading into 2018 with a $7.6 million cap hit. Though not ideal for a backup, it isn’t an egregious figure either. Foles’ salary ranks 23rd in the NFL for next season among quarterbacks, one spot and a few hundred thousand dollars ahead of returning starter Carson Wentz.

This means that the Eagles could probably afford to keep both quarterbacks, but they would need to move some other pieces around. For a team up against the cap, there are certainly better ways to spend $7 million. With Foles’ value never being higher, the team could trade him to a team desperate for a potential starter, or it could hold onto him, even offering an extension to lower the 2018 hit but give the man more dough.

Holding firm with both quarterbacks is enticing for two reasons. Foles was really good for this team and this locker room, even besides his production in the playoffs. Second, Wentz is coming off a serious injury and may not be ready to go Week 1. Wouldn’t this franchise look silly if it dumped Foles on somebody only to admit that Wentz won’t be ready to go?

Even with that threat looming, I think trading the veteran is the best course of action. For one, it rewards Foles for leading this team to a title. It, presumably, moves him to a team that needs him to start, which Philadelphia is not.

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The Eagles also get something of value, whatever it ends up being, for a player that overachieved and won’t be in the team’s plan for 2018 anyway. The tricky part is figuring out what Foles’ value would even be. No one in the league wanted him as a potential starter last season. He plays one good month and now the phone won’t stop ringing. Of course, that one month was in the most important stretch of Eagles football in the team’s history.

My feeling is that Philly should aim for the best-case scenario, which would be dealing Foles for something nice and seeing Wentz return. The “best” scenario if Foles stays would be what exactly? Seeing Wentz get hurt again and needing Foles? Never needing Foles and seeing him leave for nothing in free agency? Neither of those outcomes are all that positive.

Dan Salem:

Having a great backup quarterback is the greatest luxury and asset an NFL team can have, but none want to use it. In terms of insurance policies, there’s no better option for Philadelphia than Nick Foles right now. He’s their Super Bowl MVP and the man who brought them their first title. Keeping him on the team offers numerous opportunities that have nothing to do with actually playing football. Considering he is already under contract for one more season, perhaps the Eagles decide that there’s very little they can get in return for Foles that isn’t better than having the player himself.

Foles’ value will never be higher, so the safe play is to trade him for as much as possible. Your best case scenario is pretty nice and obviously preferred by the team and fans, assuming the Eagles get a high pick or picks in a trade. Yet you missed one other alternative that is actually better. Trade Nick Foles at the 2018 NFL trade deadline.

Right now Foles is the toast of Philadelphia, but if you trade him next month, all of that goes away with him. The Eagles lose all of the hoopla and fanfare surrounding their Super Bowl MVP that would take place between now and the start of the 2018 season. If the team keeps Foles as its backup, they have the ultimate insurance for Wentz. They slowdown their star quarterback’s recovery timeline and take the pressure off him to get back on the field immediately. Foles is there to hold the fort. The likelihood of Wentz returning at 100 percent goes way up without that pressure.

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Philadelphia then trades Foles at the deadline to a needy team that will overpay for a starting quarterback. Its a rental for the playoffs, but everyone knows how well he did this season in such a role. His value is just as high, but the Eagles get two-thirds of a season with him as their backup. They get assets back in a trade as well. This is the ultimate best case scenario, unless some team starts throwing first round picks at Philadelphia over the next few weeks. You don’t pass up that type of haul for your backup quarterback.