We’ve known for months now that Nick Foles’ time in Philadelphia was almost certainly coming to an end, regardless of what happened in the playoffs.
On Monday morning, less than 24 hours after the Eagles were eliminated by the New Orleans Saints in the Divisional Round, head coach Doug Pederson seemed to confirm Foles is all but gone.
During a radio interview with Sportsradio 94WIP, Pederson seemed to be saying goodbye while thanking Foles for all he’s done the past couple of years.
“I can’t say enough good things about Nick,” Pederson said in his final conversation with Angelo Cataldi of the season. “For him to come here and be the backup behind Carson and then to do the things he’s done the last two years, like I said I can’t thank him enough. He’s a pro’s pro. He’s a great human being, great leader in the locker room. He’ll always be remembered in Philadelphia for bringing a Super Bowl to this city. So, a lot of great things for him and we’ve got these next few weeks, few months to make some tough decisions, but we’ll make them at that point.”
The Eagles and Foles have a mutual option for the 2019 season. Philadelphia can extend Foles’ contract through next season at a cost of $20 million. If that happens, Foles can opt to either take the deal or pay $2 million to get out of the deal and become a free agent.
If he opts not to void the deal, then of course the Eagles can look to trade him. And if that occurs, there is certainly going to be a robust market for his services as the shortage of quality signal callers around the league has continued to be a problem for many teams.
On that note, here are five teams that could make a play for Foles in 2019.
Regardless of how it occurs, the writing is on the wall: Philly still sees Carson Wentz as its long-term franchise quarterback. As good as Foles has been the past two seasons in the clutch, he’s not their future. So one way or another, he’ll be leaving.