Philadelp
Nick Foles is going to be a rich man. The Super Bowl LII MVP has signed a 4-year, $88 million contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars, as reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo.
Rapoport talked about the deal afterward with Andrew Siciliano.
The Super Bowl MVP has a new home. The expected is happening: Nick Foles to the #Jaguars with a massive new deal.
Rapoport also relayed that the Jaguars will release former first-round pick Blake Bortles, stating that the timeline for that will be in a few days when the Foles deal is finalized.
Foles signed with the Eagles as an unrestricted free agent prior to the 2017 season and ceded most of the playing time to 2016 first-round pick Carson Wentz. After Wentz suffered a season-ending ACL tear, Foles was thrust into the starting position. That led to a 6-game run that culminated in Philadelphia’s first Super Bowl title.
He also filled in for Wentz in last year’s NFC Wild Card victory over the Chicago Bears. Jacksonville, meanwhile, limped to 5-11 out of the AFC South.
Let’s take a quick look at the Jacksonville quarterback depth chart in the wake of this massive deal:
QB 1: Nick Foles
Foles appears to be an immediate upgrade over Bortles for no other reason that he’s been incredibly clutch the last few seasons. His aforementioned Super Bowl run for Philadelphia included the following statline:
77-106 for 971 yards, 6 touchdowns and just 1 interception. Also, the famous touchdown catch in the 40-32 upset over the Patriots.
The next season, he guided the Eagles to 3-straight wins to earn a No. 6 seed in the playoffs. That included a 471-yard outburst to top the AFC South Champion Houston Texans 32-30.
The one concern with Foles is whether or not he can maintain this production over a full season. He has yet to start a full season and was relegated to backup status after a 7-touchdown, 10-interception season for the Rams in 2015. Many have placed the majority of the blame there on former Los Angeles coach Jeff Fisher, but the fact still remains: Will Jacksonville see the Foles that beat Tom Brady and threw 27 touchdowns to just 2 picks for the Eagles in 2013?
Or will the Jaguars be getting the guy that accumulated 20 picks between 2014 and 2015? If it’s the latter, that’s not much better than the last guy. If it’s the former, Foles will be teaming up with Leonard Fournette for an effective ground-to-air attack.
QB 2. Cody Kessler
Jaguars coach Doug Marrone turned the keys over to Kessler to finish out last season. He acquitted himself decently, completing just under 65 percent of his passes for 709 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions over 4.5 games.
He also accounted for 40 percent of Jacksonville’s wins, but the former USC Trojan was not asked to do much in those. In victories over the Dolphins and Colts, he combined for just 256 yards while producing just 16 total offensive points.
He’s an able game manager in a pinch, but this won’t be a quarterback battle.
QB 3. Tanner Lee
Jeremy Reaves continues his big day in front of his hometown fans with the interception. This is expected from Tanner Lee as he throws way behind Gallup.
There’s a reason Bortles started for so long in Jacksonville. The backups weren’t much better.
Tanner Lee was drafted with the No. 203 pick out of Nebraska in 2018, and came off a season where he tossed 16 interceptions. He needs to adjust to the speed of the NFL game before seeing the field in pretty much any capacity.