Adrian Fedkiw
The Philadelphia Eagles shouldn’t settle for anything, they should settle for everything when it pertains to Nick Foles.
And if there’s anyone that can maximize Foles’ value, it’s Howie Roseman.
The Eagles have received multiple trade offers for Foles, according to a report by ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, but are setting the bar high. Sources told Mortensen that the Eagles are looking for more compensation than what they received for Sam Bradford, which was a first and fourth-round pick from the Minnesota Vikings before the beginning of the 2016 season.
Eagles have fielded – not solicited – more than one inquiry and offer for Nick Foles. Eagles' basic answer is it's going to take more than the 1st and 4th round picks they got from Vikings for Sam Bradford. Foles is Super Bowl MVP and best insurance policy in NFL.
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) March 5, 2018
A couple things to this. One, this shows how much the team values Foles with Carson Wentz coming off his ACL and LCL tear and two, Roseman is a scam artist and understands how to play the leverage game more than any general manager in the NFL.
Sure, you can say that the Birds received a lot more than expected for Bradford because of the horrific injury to Teddy Bridgewater a week before the season. But why would he set the bar low, of course he’s going to set it high.
It’s about that leverage.
Roseman is playing hard to get and the ESPN report stated that the Eagles are not actively shopping the Super Bowl LII MVP.
Leverage.
According to Geoff Mosher of FanRag Sports, Philadelphia was offered a second-round pick from an AFC team for Foles, which was met with a thanks but no thanks.
Source: #Eagles offered a second-round pick for Nick Foles:https://t.co/NhvcQ79Sn8
— Geoff Mosher (@GeoffMosherNFL) March 5, 2018
It’s way too early in the proceedings to accept a trade for Foles right now. Kirk Cousins is going to be the first domino to fall during free agency and when the teams interested in his services strike out, that’s what could lead to a bidding war for the right to acquire Foles.
LEVERAGE!
The Eagles might say that they won’t accept anything less than what they got for Bradford, but the truth is if a first-round pick is being dangled when the Cousins dust settles and that’s the best offer on the table, they may just take it. At the same time, this is Roseman we’re talking about here. He was the one who surprisingly got that first and fourth from Minnesota for Bradford, was able to pluck Jay Ajayi away from the Miami Dolphins for just a fourth-round selection and didn’t give away the future to move from pick No. 8 to No. 2 back in 2016 so the Birds could land Wentz.
Speaking of Wentz, SI’s Peter King discussed when he may be expected to return next year in his latest MMQB column.
The Eagles continue to be confident that Carson Wentz will be healthy enough after Dec. 13 knee surgery to play the Sept. 6 NFL opener
While I wouldn’t want Wentz to return until he’s 110 percent healthy, this is encouraging news and another reason why the Birds might feel comfortable shipping Foles away down the line.
The Eagles are limited in cap space, they are currently $10,478,033 million over the threshold after the league announced its new salary cap space for 2018, which is $177.2 million. So this means that Philly is going to be severely limited as to how many free agents it could sign. The Eagles’ free agent signings are basically going to come through the draft, which will be cheap due to the rookie deals. They don’t have a second or third round pick in the draft, so getting compensation for Foles will help them fill some holes in case looming free agents Trey Burton and Nigel Bradham walk. Or you can also look at it from a cap perspective, because trading Foles would save $5.4 million and it would give the Birds more ammunition to re-sign Bradham. That would be key because the linebacking core would lack depth if he signs elsewhere.
The new league year begins March 14th. I can’t wait to see what Roseman has up his sleeve this time.