The Philadelphia Eagles keep saying that they don’t want to trade Nick Foles, but the Kansas City Chiefs keep pushing for that to happen, as Andy Reid seems quite intent to coach the quarterback he drafted a year ago instead of the unimpressive crop he has with his new team.
Foles didn’t do anything too impressive last season, starting instead of Michael Vick for a broken down team in Philadelphia, going 1-6 in his starts, completing 60.8% of his passes, while throwing for 1699 yards, 6 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. The official word from Chip Kelly is that he’ll compete with Michael Vick for the starting job, but if Kelly is going to run the same system he did with Oregon in College, it’s hard seeing Foles fitting in as a starter or a backup, while Dennis Dixon waits for his opportunity, likely to be promoted.
Things change. The Chiefs aren’t really interested in Matt Cassel and Brady Quinn to be their starters, but bringing in Nick Foles might not be possible, let alone an immediate upgrade. Playing behind a better offensive line will definitely help, but Foles didn’t show much in terms of looking like a franchise guy during his first half of a season.
Meanwhile, the talks are continuing. The Chiefs are exploring other options – trading for Matt Flynn, trading for Alex Smith or trying to sign Matt Moore. Each player presents his own set of problems, risks and demands, and Foles, at the moment, is probably the fourth best quarterback in the mentioned group. Still, being a third rounder who didn’t impress in his rookie campaign, the Chiefs, not exactly loaded with trading parts, would like to get someone they believe in at minimum cost.
It’s probably the first need on the board for the Chiefs, which they aren’t likely to address in the draft. Andy Reid wants a quarterback he knows, and it seems that despite all of the official words, the Eagles are keeping a door open, just in case they change their mind about Foles.