Sam Bradford signing with Cardinals could mean Nick Foles is staying with Eagles

It looks like Nick Foles won’t be headed to Arizona after all.

The Cardinals have reportedly signed free agent quarterback Sam Bradford to a one-year contract worth $20 MILLION. WITH $15 MILLION GUARANTEED!

First of all: What the hell are the Cardinals doing? Bradford can’t stay healthy. And even when he does play, he’s not even that great.

Second: this rules out Arizona as a landing spot in a Foles trade. It was previously thought they made the most sense due to the fact they’re limited on cap space and don’t pick until No. 15 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft. Now it appears that won’t be the case.

I mean, it’s always possible (and even likely) that Bradford gets hurt again. Maybe he gets hurt in Teddy Bridgewater fashion where it’s right before the season and Arizona comes calling for Foles like the Vikings called the Eagles for Bradford in 2016. That would be something!

Or maybe the market for Foles has just dried up and the Eagles are going to keep him as Carson Wentz’s backup in 2018. Given that Wentz is recovering from an ACL injury, that’s certainly not the worst idea.

The downfall to keeping Foles is that the Eagles won’t save the $5.2 million in cap space they could get by moving him. They also won’t receive the much-needed draft picks they need to acquire. If the Eagles need to play Foles in 2018, those things aren’t so important. But if he doesn’t play at all, it would be a bummer to see him walk in 2018 without getting an immediate pick for him.

That’s not the end of the world, though. The Eagles could hope to land a compensatory pick in the 2020 NFL Draft if Foles signs a significant deal AFTER the 2018.

With Howie Roseman — the most active trader in the NFL — around, you can never rule out Foles being dealt. But for now it looks like No. 9 is staying in Philly.