HEADLINES

Eagles Won’t Franchise Tag Nick Foles

February 27th, 2019 at 11:48am CST by Zachary Links

Nick Foles will be a free agent in March. On Wednesday, Eagles GM Howie Roseman confirmed that the team will not be placing the franchise tag on the quarterback. 

“He deserves an opportunity to lead a team,” said Roseman (Twitter link via Tom Pelissero of NFL.com), adding that it was a hard decision for the Eagles.

With Carson Wentz entrenched as the starter and little in the way of cap space, franchising Foles was not a real option, unless the Eagles were willing to thin themselves out in other areas. A tag-and-trade scenario could have allowed them to recoup something for Foles, but it sounds as though the league’s other QB-needy teams sat on their hands with a belief that this would be the ultimate outcome.

Foles spent the bulk of his career as a backup, but wound up as the Super Bowl MVP following the 2017 season. It stands to reason that he’ll cash in next month since he is far and away the best starting option available.

Foles, 30, was once again called upon in 2018 as Carson Wentz was once again sidelined by injury. He went 4-1 in his five starts and completed 72.3% of his passes, his highest mark in any of his NFL seasons. He also threw for seven touchdowns against four interceptions.

This year’s free agent QB crop is slim, as per the usual. Foles is expected to draw the interest of teams like the Jaguars, Dolphins, and Redskins en route to a deal that should pay him higher than the league average starting QB.

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