NFL insiders are saying the Jaguars are the favorites to sign Nick Foles in free agency

Howie Roseman confirmed that Nick Foles will officially be a free agent when the new NFL league year begins on March 13 by announcing the Philadelphia Eagles will not use the franchise tag on him.

So, where will Foles play next?

NFL insiders are indicating the Jacksonsville Jaguars are the most likely landing spot for BDN. First up, from Adam Schefter:

Then Ian Rapoport had the following to say on NFL Network:

“But what you saw here was weeks of conversations between Howie Roseman and other teams trying to figure out was there a market for Nick Foles. Remember, this would be tagging him for $25 million, then trading him, then the team that traded for him would have to give him a new contract. That would all be part of an extremely expensive price, even for someone who was a Super Bowl MVP and has performed [at a high level].

And once the Denver Broncos traded for Joe Flacco, that was basically the market that Howie Roseman had. And now, realistically, it’s just the Jaguars right now who are out in front. And from what I was told, they were not going to trade for Foles. Once “Roseman learned that, he said ‘OK, we’re not tagging him, he’s going to be free.’”

This reporting from Rapoport downplays the notion that the Eagles simply decided to not to tag Foles because “it was the right thing to do.” The reality is there just wasn’t a real trade market for Foles.

It remains to be seen if there will even be a strong free agent market for Foles. The Jaguars are an obvious candidate, for sure, but what other teams are going to be competing for him? Word is that the Jags are the only real contender and that’s what makes logical sense as well.

The Eagles will be quite fine with Foles landing in Jacksonville. Philadelphia isn’t even scheduled to play the Jags in the regular season again until 2022.

What matters most for the Eagles now is that Foles signs as lucrative of a contract as possible. The Eagles will want to be able to collect a third-round compensatory pick in the 2020 NFL Draft via Foles signing a big deal in free agency. That’s the most Philly can get in return for Foles at this point.

Go get paid, BDN.

UPDATE: Here’s a look at some updated Foles odds. I highly doubt he ends up in Washington with Alex Smith signed through 2022 and that organization being a dysfunctional mess, but somehow they’re No. 1 from BetDSI. The Jags are favored by BetOnline.