In the least surprising news of free agency, Nick Foles goes to Jaguars
The moment the Philadelphia Eagles said they wouldn’t put the franchise tag on quarterback Nick Foles, everyone knew what would happen next.
There aren’t many teams in desperate need of a starting quarterback, but the Jacksonville Jaguars are one. Not long after the Eagles said Foles would become a free agent, there were reports that Foles would land in Jacksonville (whew, good thing there’s no tampering anymore), and that’s exactly what happened Monday, the first day teams were allowed to contact free agents.
Foles has agreed to go to the Jaguars, NFL Network reported. Mike Garafolo of NFL Network said Foles, the former Super Bowl MVP, will get $88 million over four years.
Nick Foles replaces Blake Bortles in Jacksonville
The Jaguars drafted Blake Bortles to be their franchise quarterback, but that never happened. The defense carried the Jaguars to the AFC championship game two seasons ago, but things fell apart in 2018 and Bortles was done.
Foles is one of the NFL’s oddest tales. He had a historic season in 2013, then a couple years later was practically off the NFL map. He considered retiring to become a pastor. But he decided to come back to the Eagles to be Carson Wentz’s backup, and ended up taking the Eagles to a Super Bowl title after Wentz’s ACL injury.
Wentz was a backup most of last season too, but Wentz was shut down with a back injury and Foles helped the Eagles make the playoffs and then led a last-minute drive in a wild-card round win over the Bears.
The Jaguars hope he still has some of that magic. They paid a lot to find out.
Foles’ contract is huge
Foles’ enormous deal isn’t without risk. The deal includes $50.125 million in guaranteed money, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported. That’s a lot for a quarterback who just turned 30 and has a history of inconsistency. It’s a lot for a Jaguars franchise that didn’t have much cap flexibility either.
The Jaguars must feel Foles is the missing piece. They cratered last season, one year after their breakout. There were more issues than Bortles, but Bortles’ bad play didn’t help.
There will be a renewed hope in Jacksonville with Foles. And if it doesn’t work out, it’ll be one expensive experiment.
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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
