As the Combine winds down, the Jaguars are entering the final pre-free agency week as the unquestioned clubhouse leaders for Nick Foles.
Mutual interest exists between the Super Bowl LII MVP and the Jags, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com notes (video link). Jacksonville was not ready to trade draft capital for Foles, likely because of a limited market for the veteran quarterback, but has been viewed as the favorite since Philadelphia’s tag-and-trade scenario did not come to fruition.
With other teams not nearly as connected to the free agent-to-be, the Jags may be set to receive a discount. They are internally preparing a Foles offer, Jeff McLane of Philly.com notes, and the expectation is they will be able to sign him for a below-market deal (at least, in terms of veteran starters). However, Rapoport expects the deal to be north of what the Broncos gave to Case Keenum last year, envisioning this pact will eclipse $20MM per year.
While any starting-QB-level deal will put the Jags up against the cap, considering they hold the least cap space in the league (current $2MM-plus over the salary ceiling), the team needs a starter. The team’s Blake Bortles extension predictably backfired, and if the Jaguars cut the sixth-year passer and do not designate him as a post-June 1 release, they are going to take a $16MM-plus dead-money hit this year. If Jacksonville does make Bortles a post-June 1 departure, it cannot use any of the funds created from the transaction until June. The team may need the modest $4.5MM in cap savings a Bortles release creates to afford Foles in March.
However, the Jaguars are shopping Malik Jackson and Carlos Hyde, pointing to releases in the event no one wants to take on these contracts. Cuts of Jackson and Hyde would free up nearly $16MM in space. Marcell Dareus was a cap-casualty candidate, but the former top-five pick restructured his deal. The team also picked up Calais Campbell‘s option. This further points to Jackson being the odd man out, a scenario he expected.
Foles was paid better than Keenum as an NFC backup the past two seasons and obviously became one of the most famous backup quarterbacks in NFL history. His non-Philadelphia stays have not produced much, most notably his St. Louis stint leading to Keenum replacing him as the Rams’ starter and Foles considering retirement before joining the Chiefs. But former Eagles QBs coach John DeFilippo is now in Jacksonville as OC. That may give Foles the best opportunity to thrive outside of Philly.
Wouldn’t surprise me if the Eagles sign Hyde.
Bortles is a garage qb the extension the gave him was beyond stupid. I don’t have anything else to say so goodnight to you all
You arr 100% accurate though. Not sure why they thought it was a good idea
They extended him because they figured if he played similar to, or better, than he did in 2017 he would be an average starting QB making below average starter money. So the reasoning behind it made some sense. But considering his inconsistent play from year-to-year and the fact that he was on the 5th year option year anyway, it really didn’t make sense to give him an extension. Actually extending him wasn’t that terrible of an idea…essentially making his 2019 salary guaranteed was.
Foles isn’t the answer. He’s never started 16 game season & is 30. What does that say; back up material to me.
He’s a better option than Bortles. He’s also shown he can win in the playoffs.
Going from backup to another backup isn’t a winning formula. He did have a nice postseason and certainly was the SB MVP. But just remember the Eagles rushed back their #1 this season because the offense wasn’t all that grand w/ Foles the 1st quarter of the season.
Your right, he’s probably not the answer at QB for the Jags but since the defense is basically built to win now, they have to do what they can to try and put an average QB under center to give themselves a shot. They can’t put Bortles back under center (even though it probably makes the most sense financially) because they’ll probably lose the locker room if Bortles continues to play terribly. Foles should at least give them a decent game manager for the next season or two as a bridge QB.
Average QB’s normally don’t perform well throughout a season, hence being average. They’d be better off drafting a new guy.
Bortles isn’t great, but I saw a lot of dropped balls this year, bad pass protecting, and their RB sit for weeks on end.
The only reason I say they wouldn’t be better off drafting a guy is because I’m looking at this season as possibly the last for Marrone unless they make a surprising playoff run. With an average offense and the AFC South as a whole looking like they could all finish around .500 or better, it’ll be tough to make the playoffs. If Marrone is fired you run the risk of having a young QB who isn’t in the new coach’s favor; if Caldwell and Coughlin are fired too than even worse. Honestly, the Jags have so many holes to fill that they’re better off waiting til next year to draft a QB with a high pick. They have holes at basically every offensive position and need to find some depth/project players for the defense. As a Jags fan I don’t have high expectations for them this year so a top 10 pick isn’t out of the question.
I live in Jax and agree w/ what you say.
I don’t think the Jags have that many holes to fill. They need a QB, that doesn’t give the ball away, can extend drives, giving the defense a chance to rest. Tired defenses break down all the time. They need to Establish run game, convert 3rd & short and you will see the defense drastically improve.
I agree that as long as Foles doesn’t give the ball away the defense will be better, but the offense has a ton of holes. They have no tight ends and the WR position is a mess after Westbrook (Chark was uninspiring, Cole looked like a shell of his rookie year, and Lee is coming off a serious injury). They need depth at RB, which admitedly can be filled with mid to late round draft picks and cheap fliers in free agency, and their entire offensive line has question marks. Norwell wasn’t as good as expected, Linder can’t stay healthy, and both Cann and Parnell might be gone and neither were all that consistent to justify bringing them back for the sake of continuity.
Not for nothing but the Jags lost their #1 WR before the season began. Westbrook looked good, that’s about it tho.
why pay him $20mill a yr when they would be bidding against themselves? Miami and Washington are going nowhere near Foles