Over the last month or so, it has been widely reported that Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles will be playing elsewhere next season. It is just a matter of how the Eagles want to depart from the reigning Super Bowl MVP.
Philadelphia could opt to trade Foles, after applying the franchise tag or exercising his $20 million option for next season. The Miami Dolphins did this same thing to wide receiver Jarvis Landry last offseason.
If the Eagles do decide to go this route, they should reportedly have a quality trade market for the veteran quarterback. Outside of the New York Giants and Jacksonville Jaguars, another team who could end up trading for him is the Denver Broncos.
According to Mike Klis of 9News, Denver “may consider” signing pending free agent quarterback Joe Flacco or acquiring Foles, especially with how starter Case Keenum played this season.
The Broncos signed Keenum to a two-year, $36 million deal last offseason after he led the Minnesota Vikings to the NFC Championship game.
In a recent radio appearance on Orange and Blue 760, Klis detailed what the Broncos could do at the quarterback position this offseason.
“They don’t have a young quarterback in the system,” he said (h/t to 247Sports). “They gotta figure out how to get one. Plan B is Flacco and Foles. If those guys are available, the Broncos may look at that. With [new head coach] Vic Fangio, if you want to win right away, and get to the playoffs right away, which it appears the Broncos do, maybe Flacco and Foles are the answer.”
If this is the case, what could the Eagles possibly get in return from Broncos?
As things currently stand, the Broncos have nine picks in the NFL draft, the same amount of picks the Eagles have. However, Denver does have two fourth and two fifth-round picks, which they could dangle in a deal.
Would Broncos GM Jon Elway be opened to trading away a second and one of their fourth-round picks in exchange for Foles? They would still get to keep their first-round pick to address another position of need and get an upgrade at quarterback.
Remember when the Eagles traded Sam Bradford to the Vikings a couple of years ago? They got a 2017 first-round pick and a 2018 fourth-round pick in exchange for him and he does not have the same resume as Foles.
The trade paid off for Philadelphia as they drafted Derek Barnett with the first round pick and selected Josh Sweat with the fourth-round pick.
Therefore, it should be interesting to see how the market plays out for Foles. It appears that teams who believe that they will be contenders next season will put their bid in for him.
But will they ultimately meet the price for the veteran quarterback with a weak quarterback draft class on deck?
