Nick Foles, the only Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl MVP in franchise history, was officially released by the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
Foles’ career hasn’t exactly gone as some, including himself, thought it might since he left Philly. Foles signed a big money contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2019 but ultimately got benched in favor of Gardner Minshew. The Jags traded him to Chicago, where he was expected to be the answer as he was reunited with the trio of Matt Nagy, Bill Lazor, and John DeFilippo. But Foles struggled with the Bears and was ultimately benched for Mitchell Trubisky.
Foles was long rumored to be trade target, especially when there was uncertainty about Carson Wentz’s availability with the Indianapolis Colts last summer. But the Bears never ended up moving him and he instead mainly served as the third-string option in Chicago last year.
Now back on the open market, Foles will be able to pick his next landing spot. That is, assuming he still wants to play football.
Naturally, we have to ask: should the Eagles bring BDN back to Philly?
The Birds don’t currently have a need for a quarterback since they have five on their roster: Jalen Hurts, Gardner Minshew, Reid Sinnett, Carson Strong, and EJ Perry. That’s already a lot; six would be too many.
But the Eagles could conceivably look to trade Minshew to a team still looking for QB help (Seattle? Carolina? Detroit?). Doing might net them a late Day 2 or early Day 3 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. The Eagles could then sign Foles to replace Minshew as QB2.
Some might wonder if bringing Foles back would be the best move as the Eagles try to see if they can build around Hurts. There’s thought that Foles’ presence could be a distraction. But Hurts — unlike a certain former Eagles quarterback — seems well-equipped to handle any threat of potential competion.
The bigger obstacle in bringing Foles back to Philly might not be from the Eagles’ side. It might be Foles who doesn’t want to return. Recall this article from last year:
Nick Foles had the chance to return to the team he won a Super Bowl with, and he apparently refused. According to NFL insider Tyler Dunne, the Chicago Bears were looking to move on from the veteran signal-caller after his none-too-impressive 2020 campaign — and the team had a particular trade partner in mind — but Foles didn’t want to return to the Philadelphia Eagles. “The Bears tried cleansing their hands of the Nick Foles mistake by trading Foles back to Philly. Foles didn’t want to go, one source says, so the Eagles refused to trade for a QB who wouldn’t report,” Dunne reported May 24.
Foles undoubtedly loved his time in Philly. He’ll forever be a hero here. But he might want to leave his Eagles legacy as is.
We’ll see. Foles’ next landing spot will obviously be worth monitoring as a player whom Eagles fans will always hold near and dear to their hearts.
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