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There’s been a lot of Nick Foles trade talk today and it’s not over yet.
The latest information comes from ESPN’s Chris Mortensen.
Eagles have fielded - not solicited - more than one inquiry and offer for Nick Foles. Eagles' basic answer is it's going to take more than the 1st and 4th round picks they got from Vikings for Sam Bradford. Foles is Super Bowl MVP and best insurance policy in NFL.
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) March 5, 2018
Which underscores the organizational sentiment that Foles is too valuable with team that expects to contend for SB again and their franchise QB Wentz coming off ACL-LCL repair https://t.co/aFiKnw2eET
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) March 5, 2018
This confirms what Peter King had to say earlier today: the Eagles are seemingly only willing to part with Foles for a premium cost.
I don’t doubt that that’s true. We all know Foles is a great backup to have around if Carson Wentz isn’t ready to play by Week 1 and/or gets re-injured.
I do doubt, however, that the Eagles are ultimately not willing to trade Foles for anything less than the Bradford offer.
That doesn’t mean I expect them to jump at a lesser offer. We’ve already seen that they’re not going to do that. But there may come a point where they feel like they have a strong offer that isn’t quite up to the Bradford trade standards and pull the trigger.
Howie Roseman is operating from a position of strength when it comes to bargaining. He doesn’t necessarily have to trade Foles. Therefore, he can sit back, set a high price, and hopefully watch Foles’ suitors make competitive offers to continue to drive the price up. If he doesn’t get an offer he likes, he doesn’t have to force anything.
For the most part.
I don’t think Roseman is super cool with the potential situation of losing Foles in free agency next offseason after they didn’t even need him to play in 2018. Roseman is almost always great at maximizing value. I just find it hard to believe he’d be totally OK with turning down a first-round pick for one year of a player who ideally won’t play at all.
All of this is to say that Roseman might have to come down from his high price tag at some point. He started out right by setting the bar high. Now he’ll field trade offers and try to find some reasonable compromise. If the two sides can’t come close, no deal will be made and Foles will remain as Wentz’s backup.
No matter what side of the fence you fall on when it comes to trading Foles, we should all be able to agree the Eagles are in a good position. Either they’ll retain a good backup or they’ll get some good assets and gain cap space by dealing him.
Roseman has a proven track record when it comes to making these kind of deals. He can likely be trusted to do the right thing for the Eagles, whatever that may be.