3 Potential NFL trades to dump contracts in 2020 offseason

1. Jaguars part with Foles, Minshew Mania ensues

Nick Foles is yet again one of those quarterbacks who signed a massive deal in free agency after playing a great stretch of games, only to disappoint when he finally obtained a long-term deal. After his miraculous Super Bowl run with Philadelphia in 2017, where he completed 77 percent of his passes for 971 yards, six touchdowns, and one interception in the postseason, Foles was projected to be a hot commodity in the trade market.

After the Eagles elected to keep him for one more year to back up Carson Wentz, Foles developed just one legitimate suitor when his contract expired at the end of the 2018 season.

The Jacksonville Jaguars were ready for a change at quarterback after four years with Blake Bortles, whose career 59 percent completion rate and 111-to-94 touchdown-to-turnover ratio qualified him as a first-round bust. Despite making it to the AFC Championship in 2017 behind a top-ranked defense and run game, Bortles reverted back to his former self in 2018 and was ultimately cut by the Jaguars.

After watching Nick Foles lead the Eagles on their title run, Jacksonville elected to sign the former 2012 3rd round pick to a 4-year, $88 million ($50 million guaranteed) deal last offseason.

Foles disappointed in his first year in Jacksonville, suffering a broken collarbone in Week 1 before ultimately returning to the starting lineup in Week 12. Foles completed 66 percent of his passes for 700 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions in his three starts before being benched for the rookie 5th round pick Gardner Minshew. To his credit, Foles had just come off a devastating injury and barely had time to become accustomed to the offense.

Yet, the rookie Minshew played well in his stead, completing 61 percent of his passes for 3,271 yards, 21 touchdowns, and six interceptions. The Jaguars may be inclined to keep the rookie as starter over Foles given his overall production and cheap contract. The Jaguars already have a serviceable backup under contract in Joshua Dobbs, who is set to make $0.8 million in 2020, so they may send Foles packing to clear cap space.

Foles has three years and $57 million remaining on his contract; his cap hit for 2020 is $22 million. If traded, the Jaguars would take on a dead cap hit of $18.8 million, while saving approximately $3.1 million in cap space; they would also save $14.4 million in 2021 and $20.8 million in 2022.

Nick Foles cannot be cut, as it would cost Jacksonville a total of $34 million to release him outright. With the Jaguars having negative cap space at the moment, they may be inclined to part with a draft pick in order to clear Foles’ albatross of a contract off of their books.

The Buffalo Bills, on the other hand, have $83 million in cap space and a hole at backup quarterback. Their current backup, Matt Barkley, was horrific filling in for Josh Allen; he completed 53 percent of his passes, scored zero touchdowns, and committed four turnovers with Allen sidelined.

The Bills can certainly afford to take on Foles’ deal and keep him on the roster to mentor Allen; meanwhile, the Jaguars would spend some draft capital to wipe away a mistake made by the front office and gain some cap flexibility.