Getty Nick Foles was brought to Chicago to compete with former starter Mitch Trubisky.
Nick Foles and Frank Reich are together again.
The former Chicago Bears quarterback is signing a two-year deal with the Indianapolis Colts, where he will be reunited with head coach Reich, as first reported by NFL Network insider Mike Garafolo on May 23. The plan is for the 33-year-old quarterback to serve as backup for presumed Colts starter Matt Ryan.
Nick Foles and the #Colts have now agreed to terms on a two-year deal, source says. Foles and Frank Reich officially reunited, this time with Foles as Matt Ryan’s backup.
Reich was the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles from 2016-17, working with Foles in 2017, when the two led the Eagles to their only Super Bowl victory in franchise history. One top NFL insider also revealed the Eagles were interested in a reunion with Foles.
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Eagles, Colts Had Interest in Foles, Reports Say
According to ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler, Philadelphia also had interest in a reunion with Foles, who is still beloved in the city after getting named MVP of Super Bowl 52. Fowler reported the Eagles ultimately elected to roll with Gardner Minshew and undrafted free agent QB Carson Strong to back up starter Jalen Hurts after flirting with the idea of trading Minshew and adding Foles:
New Bears general manager Ryan Poles admitted in March he was trying to trade Foles, whose hefty contract was a likely deterrent for other teams. The Bears chose to release Foles on May 1 after no trade partners emerged, and it didn’t take long for him to find a new home after that.
The Bears sent a fourth-round pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for Foles in 2020, with the intention on having him compete with former QB Mitch Trubisky for the starting job. He wound up replacing Trubisky during the team’s Week 3 contest against the Atlanta Falcons in 2020, and he finished with two wins in seven starts that year, completing 64.7% of his passes for 1,852 yards, 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
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Bears Will Receive $1 Million Credit at End of 2022 Season, Cap Expert Says
According to salary cap expert Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus and Over the Cap, Foles will make $2.5 million with the Colts this year and the Bears will receive a $1 million credit at the end of the 2022 season due to offset language in his contract, which will reduce the $7,666,668 in dead cap money left from his contract for Chicago.
The Bears restructured the four-year, $88 million deal Foles signed with the Jaguars in 2019. The Jags ate $18.75 million in dead money after his lone season with them, ultimately paying him $31 million for one year and four starts after a broken collarbone ended his season. Chicago restructured his deal, signing him to a three-year, $24 million contract with $21 million in guaranteed money, per Over the Cap.
It was a contract that very likely prohibited the Bears from trading him, as no teams wanted to give up any draft picks in exchange for an aging backup with a dead cap hit over $7 million.
Now, Foles reunites with an offensive-minded coach who knows him well. “Frank Reich is one my favorite, if not the favorite, coaches of all time,” Foles said in August of 2021, after being relegated to third-string QB behind Justin Fields and Andy Dalton. “He understands me as a player. He understands me as a person.”
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