Nick Foles Declared Free Agent

Top NFL quarterbacks rarely reach free agency. Their value is such that they receive long-term contracts or are essentially held out of the fray by the team’s use of the franchise tag, which guarantees a healthy one-year contract and nothing more.

The Washington Redskins did this in consecutive years with Kirk Cousins, before letting him go to sign a huge deal with the Minnesota Vikings. Now, of course, the Redskins have no top-level quarterback, with Alex Smith (broken leg) unlikely to play in 2019.

The Philadelphia Eagles took a different path on Wednesday. Though they could have used the franchise tag on Nick Foles, the MVP of their victory in Super Bowl LII, and tried to trade him.

They have Carson Wentz returning from a back injury and he, not Foles, is their future.

Instead, the Eagles turned Foles loose. He can sign with any team as a free agent. The Eagles get no future return, though what they got over the past two seasons was substantial.

“After a lot of conversation, we think letting (him) become a free agent is the right thing to do. He’s a tremendous player, Super Bowl MVP, and someone we feel is a top 15 quarterback in the league. We were incredibly fortunate to have him and wish him the best of luck in the future,” Eagles executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman said in a statement.

Doing the right thing? There’s an interesting thought, and we should all hold on to it – it’s so rare in the NFL as to warrant further consideration. Treating a player like a person and not like an asset valued in only in dollars? Remarkable.

Foles is considered most likely to sign with the Jacksonville Jaguars, whose general manager Dave Caldwell said Wednesday: “The priority is winning, and winning now.”

Free agency begins March 14. So does Foles’ future and perhaps the turnaround of the Jaguars as well.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman